title: Lincoln Continental Mark III

text: In Goosebumps, a 1969 Mark III reprises its role as the "Haunted Car", paying homage to the 1977 film The Car. The Continental Mark III also appears extensively the 1973 film Gordon's War, and the 1993 crime comedy-drama Trouble Bound.


title: Lincoln Continental Mark III

text: Continental Mark IIIs appear in television on a regular basis. Most notably, the car was featured in the detective television series Cannon where, in season 1, detective Frank Cannon drove a 1971 Mark III, before switching to Mark IVs for later seasons.


title: Lincoln Continental Mark III

text: The Mark III has been featured on many automotive TV shows including My Classic Car, Counting Cars, Fast N' Loud and Top Gear USA, where it was modified into an American "Popemobile".


title: Star Wars Episode I: Racer

text: Star Wars Episode I: Racer is a 1999 racing video game based on the podracing sequence featured in "". The game features all of the racers and race course on Tatooine featured in "The Phantom Menace". It also adds several new courses, some on Tatooine, others on various planets. Several single player modes, including a tournament mode, are available for play. It also features multiplayer, the format of which varies by platform. Jake Lloyd and Lewis MacLeod, who portrayed Anakin Skywalker and Sebulba in "The Phantom Menace", reprise their roles in the game.


title: Star Wars Episode I: Racer

text: "Episode I: Racer" received generally positive reviews from critics. Several major media outlets listed it as one of the top "Star Wars" video games. , the game holds the Guinness record as the best-selling sci-fi racing game, having worldwide sales of 3.12 million and beating other series like "Wipeout" and "F-Zero". Two titles featuring podracing were released after "Episode I: Racer"'s release. "", an arcade game featuring many similar tracks and characters, was released in 2000. A sequel, "Star Wars Racer Revenge" was released in 2002 for the PlayStation 2.


title: Star Wars Episode I: Racer

text: Twenty years after the release of the game, it received an HD re-release for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. It was originally scheduled for May 2020, but was delayed to June 23 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was later released on Xbox One on October 27, 2020.


title: Star Wars Episode I: Racer

text: "Star Wars Episode I: Racer" features a variety of tracks spanning several different planets. It includes all of the racers featured in the movie as well as additional competitors exclusive to the game. The player character's podracer is equipped with a boost function that the player can activate. While activated the podracer's temperature will rise, and if the player boosts for too long, the engines will explode, destroying the podracer and costing the player several seconds to respawn and continue racing. The podracer will also be destroyed if one or both engines sustain severe damage from colliding into too many walls or obstacles, requiring the player to steer carefully to avoid falling behind. The player can also actively repair the podracer while competing, but doing so slows the podracer until repairs are either complete or stopped.


title: Star Wars Episode I: Racer

text: Three single player game modes are available in the game. In Tournament mode, the player character competes in a championship. Completing races awards money, with higher ranked finishes resulting in higher payouts. This can be used to buy parts or repair droids, unlock new tracks, and unlock new racers. Free Race mode allows the player to practice any previously unlocked courses using any unlocked racer. The player character cannot earn money or unlock tracks and racers, but can set the difficulty of the opponents. Time Attack pits the player character against the clock, racing along to try to achieve the fastest time on the given course. This mode is absent from the PC version. Instead the Free Play mode allows the player to set the number of computer opponents to 0.


title: Star Wars Episode I: Racer

text: Multiplayer is also offered on all platforms, though it differs between the PC and console versions. The Nintendo 64 and Sega Dreamcast versions feature a two player splitscreen mode, while the Windows and Macintosh versions allow for play over a Local Area Network (LAN). This Windows version uses the deprecated IPX protocol to accomplish this, while the Macintosh version uses the TCP/IP stack. The multiplayer mode can support up to eight players.


title: Star Wars Episode I: Racer

text: "Star Wars Episode I: Racer" was developed and published by LucasArts for Windows PCs in May 1999. Development took approximately two years. Two project leads responsible for "" began initial development once "Shadows" was completed. The game was developed in-house at LucasArts. Tools used during development included 3D Studio Max, Alias Wavefront and Autodesk Softimage. During development, multiple graphical application programming interfaces (APIs) were tested, including 3dfx Glide, OpenGL, and Direct3D. Ultimately the game shipped with only Direct3D support because according to Project Lead Brett Tosti when testing Glide and OpenGL the developers "didn’t see any performance increases so didn’t add support." The team had to develop their physics simulation in the game from only a few short clips of the film given to them. According to Tosti, their approximations ended up very close to the film. "We really didn’t get to see how good our estimates were until the very end." Project lead John Knoles emphasized that the team's goal was for a strong sense of speed. He stated they wanted to make it "feel like an eyeball-peeling racing game, where you're going so fast, you're just nervous."


title: Star Wars Episode I: Racer

text: The game was originally titled "Star Wars: Podracer", however the subtitle was changed to "Episode I Racer" when LucasArts learned that another company owned the trademark for games with the name "Pod" in the title. Actor Jake Lloyd, who portrayed Anakin Skywalker in "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace", promoted the game at E3 1999. Lloyd also provided voice-over for his character in the game. The theatrical score from was reused for the game, and various sound effects from the film were also reused. The podracers were recreated using specifications from the film, and the Tatooine environment was also sourced from the film. Several of the game's other locales had never appeared in a "Star Wars" game prior. The varied environments, Tosti said, were "to add more depth to the gameplay." During an IGN interview with LucasArts' Tom Byron at E3 1999 the question of online play was brought up. Byron was unsure, citing problems "mostly because of latency issues." Some multiplayer code from "" was utilized for "Episode I: Racer". Ultimately internet play was not included. The Windows version uses the deprecated IPX protocol to accomplish this, while the Macintosh version uses the TCP/IP stack. The multiplayer mode can support up to eight players. The game was supported by a 10 million marketing budget.


title: Star Wars Episode I: Racer

text: "Episode I: Racer" was later ported and released for several other platforms: Nintendo 64 Dreamcast, and Game Boy Color. The announced PlayStation version of the game was never released. The Nintendo 64 version received a special edition "Star Wars Episode I: Racer" hardware bundle, including the standard gray and black console and a copy of the game. Though the Nintendo 64 cartridge could optionally take advantage of Nintendo's Expansion Pak memory unit to display additional textures, the limited capacity of the cartridge resulted in the removal of all pre-rendered cutscenes seen on the Windows and Macintosh versions. It was the first LucasArts game to be released on the Dreamcast. The Game Boy Color release features entirely different game play from its console and PC counterparts. The Game Boy Color hardware is technically incapable of rendering the 3D graphics used in the other versions, so the game instead features one-on-one racing duels on abbreviated, linear tracks using an overhead 2D view. The Game Boy Color version of the game has an additional "rumble" feature, in which a AAA battery may be inserted into the game card to activate vibration.


title: Star Wars Episode I: Racer

text: The game received a digital re-release via the DRM-free digital distribution store GOG.com in May 2018. On October 18, 2019, the Nintendo 64 version was officially re-released in both a standard and Collector's Edition set with approval by Disney and Lucasfilm in limited quantities by Limited Run Games. On March 26, 2020, it was announced that the game would be released for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in 2020, with a release date of May 12, 2020. The PlayStation 4 version was delayed by two weeks, with a new release date of May 26, 2020. On May 11, 2020, exactly one day before the Nintendo Switch version's release, both the PlayStation 4 and the Nintendo Switch versions were eventually rescheduled for June 23, 2020, release. The Switch version also supports motion controls, allowing players to use them to operate the individual throttles of the podracer's twin engines.


title: Star Wars Episode I: Racer

text: The game was met with positive to average reception. GameRankings gave it a score of 75.78% for the Nintendo 64 version; 75.42% for the Dreamcast version; 73.79% for the PC version; and 69.44% for the Game Boy Color version. It has been featured on several lists of the best "Star Wars" video games. In March 2004, "GMR" rated "Episode I: Racer" the fifth-best "Star Wars" game of all time. In 2015, "PC Gamer" listed it 3rd in their list of top Star Wars games. That same year, it placed 10th in "Rock Paper Shotgun"'s top "Star Wars" games list. In "Game Informer"'s 2016 list of the 30 best "Star Wars" video games, "Racer" ranked 11th. , the game holds the Guinness world record for the best-selling sci-fi racing game, having worldwide sales of 3.12 million and beating other series like "Wipeout" and "F-Zero".


title: Star Wars Episode I: Racer

text: "Next Generation" reviewed the Nintendo 64 version of the game, rating it three stars out of five, and stated that "Yes, it's fast, it's largely customizable, features a lot of options, and it's fun, but it's tough to shake the feeling that if it weren't for the "Star Wars" license, it wouldn't otherwise stand out."


title: Star Wars Episode I: Racer

text: The editors of "Computer Gaming World" nominated "Racer" for their 1999 "Racing Game of the Year" award, which ultimately went to "".


title: Star Wars Episode I: Racer

text: During the 3rd Annual AIAS Interactive Achievement Awards (now known as the D.I.C.E. Awards), "Star Wars Episode I: Racer" won in the category for "Console Racing Game of the Year". "Star Wars Episode I: Racer" also nominated for the Blockbuster Entertainment Award in the "Favorite Nintendo 64 Game" category, although it lost to "Donkey Kong 64".


title: Jass Manak

text: Jaspreet Singh Manak (born 12 February 1999) is an Indian singer-songwriter. He is known predominantly for the songs "Prada", "Suit Punjaabi", "Lehanga", "Viah" and "Boss". His single "Lehanga" has featured on the UK Asian Music Chart and also the Global YouTube weekly chart.


title: Jass Manak

text: Jass Manak started his singing career with his debut song "U-Turn" in 2017. In 2018, he released "Without You" but rose to prominence with his song "Prada" which is one of the most-streamed hit songs in India. In 2019, he released his album "Age 19". In the same year he sang "Rabb Wangu" and "Bandook" for the Punjabi movie "Sikander 2". His single "Lehanga" was ranked No. 22 and No. 5 on the Global and Indian YouTube music weekly charts respectively. His latest track Album is Bad Munda Manak also become one of the most-listened-to artists in Punjab on YouTube. Manak is associated with the music label Geet MP3, which was founded in 2016. He released his new single "Shopping" on 13 February 2020 and a new album, "No Competition" on 19 August 2020. His single "Lehanga" hit 1 billion views on YouTube in 2021. Recently, he released his 3rd Album "Bad Munda" on 19 August 2021.


title: Jass Manak

text: Manak is popularly known for writing his own songs, which includes "Prada", "Lehanga", "Boss", "Viah" and every song from his debut album "Age 19". He also wrote songs for singers Karan Randhawa and Nishawn Bhullar. In 2019, Manak wrote the song "Surma Kala" for Jassi Gill. He also wrote the song "Naam Jatt Da" for Gippy Grewal.


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: Attacks on parachutists, as defined by the law of war, occur when pilots, aircrew, and passengers are attacked while descending by parachute from disabled aircraft during wartime. The practice is widely considered to be inhumane and, consequently, such parachutists are considered "hors de combat" under the Protocol I addition to the 1949 Geneva Conventions, meaning that attacking them is a war crime. Firing on airborne forces who are descending by parachute (i.e. paratroopers) is not prohibited.


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: After World War I, a series of meetings were held at The Hague in 1922–1923. Based on the testimony of First World War pilots, a commission of jurists attempted to codify this practice with the Hague Rules of Air Warfare. Article 20 prescribed that:


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: When an aircraft has been disabled, the occupants when endeavoring to escape by means of parachute must not be attacked in the course of their descent.


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: The Hague Rules of Air Warfare never came into force. There was no legal prohibition of targeting parachuting enemy airmen before or during World War II. In 1949, as a result of widespread practices and abuses committed during World War II, the newly modified and updated versions of the Geneva Conventions came into force providing greater protections to protected persons, but there was still no explicit prohibition on the shooting of parachuting enemy combatants outside of their airborne duties. However, despite this, military manuals around the world issued prohibitions on attacking enemy aircrew parachuting from aircraft in distress. Paragraph 30 of the United States Army's Field Manual published by the Department of the Army, on 18 July 1956 (last modified on 15 July 1976), under the title "The Law of Land Warfare", states:


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: The law of war does not prohibit firing upon paratroops or other persons who are or appear to be bound upon hostile missions while such persons are descending by parachute. Persons other than those mentioned in the preceding sentence who are descending by parachute from disabled aircraft may not be fired upon.


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: In 1977, this practice was finally codified in Protocol I in addition to the 1949 Geneva Conventions:


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: Targeting parachutists became an issue during the First World War when fighter pilots targeted manned enemy observation balloons. After shooting down a balloon, most pilots refrained from firing at the balloon observers as they escaped by parachute, because they felt it was inhumane and unchivalrous. The extension of this courtesy to enemy pilots began towards the end of the First World War when parachutes were provided for pilots of fixed-wing aircraft, but it was again widely perceived that once aircrew were forced to bail out of a damaged aircraft, presuming they did not offer any further resistance, they were considered to have been honorably defeated in battle and should not be "finished off".


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: By July 1918, German and Austro-Hungarian Air Force parachute escapes had become routine. The Heinecke chutes that German and Austro-Hungarian pilots received were not perfect and sometimes failed to operate safely. Some were destroyed by fire before they could open, and occasionally pilots faced the peril of being shot at by Entente fighters. British flying ace James Ira T. Jones had no compunction in doing this. "My habit of attacking Huns dangling from parachutes led to many arguments in the mess," he said. "Some officers of the Eton and Sandhurst type thought it 'unsportsmanlike'. Never having been to a public school, I was unhampered by such considerations of 'form'. I just pointed out that there was a bloody war on, and that I intended to avenge my pals."


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: At the beginning of World War II, there was a strong sense of chivalry between the British RAF and German Luftwaffe pilots. They regarded themselves as "knights of the air" and shooting parachuting enemy aircrew was contrary to their code of honour. The question of shooting an enemy pilot parachuting over his own territory aroused bitter debate on both sides. On 31 August 1940, during the Battle of Britain, RAF Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding dined with Prime Minister Winston Churchill at Chequers. After dinner, they discussed the morality of shooting parachuting Luftwaffe pilots. Dowding suggested that German pilots were perfectly entitled to shoot RAF pilots parachuting over Britain as they were still potential combatants (i.e., piloting new aircraft to conduct another military mission) while RAF pilots should refrain from firing at German pilots as they were out of combat and would eventually become prisoners of war once they landed on British soil. Churchill was appalled by this suggestion, arguing that shooting a parachuting pilot "was like drowning a sailor".


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: On the German side, Luftwaffe commander-in-chief Hermann Göring asked Luftwaffe fighter ace Adolf Galland about what he thought about shooting enemy pilots while in their parachutes, even over their own territory. Galland replied that, "I should regard it as murder, Herr Reichsmarschall. I should do everything in my power to disobey such an order." Göringwho had been a fighter ace himself during World War Isaid, "That is just the reply I had expected from you, Galland."


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: Despite such sentiments, there were a number of incidents where the shooting of parachuting enemy aviators occurred. On 1 September 1939, in the Modlin area, during the German invasion of Poland, pilots of the Polish Pursuit Brigade encountered a group of 40 German bombers escorted by 20 Bf 109 and Bf 110 fighters. During combat, Lt. Aleksander Gabszewicz was forced to bail out of his aircraft. While in his parachute, Gabszewicz was shot at by a Bf 110. Second Lt. Tadeusz Sawicz, flying nearby, attacked the German plane and another Polish pilot, Wladyslaw Kiedrzynski, spiraled around the defenseless Gabszewicz until he reached the ground. On 2 September, Sec. Lt. Jan Dzwonek, along with eight other Polish pilots, attacked a couple of German fighters approaching their direction. In the battle, Dzwonek's plane was shot down and he was forced to bail out. Hanging in his parachute, he was attacked twice by a Bf 110. Apparently, the Luftwaffe pilot was so busy attacking the defenseless Dzwonek that Corporal Jan Malinowski, flying an obsolete P.7 fighter, downed the German plane. Dzwonek later recounted the story:


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: During the Battle of Britain, Polish and Czech pilots serving in the RAF sometimes shot at Luftwaffe pilots parachuting over Britain. Many Germans charged that this was regular practice by the Poles and the Czechs, but there was little hard evidence of it. The leading historian of the Polish Air Force, Adam Zamoyski, conceded that "it is true that some pilots still finished off parachuting Germans by flying directly over them; the slipstream would cause the parachute to collapse and the man would fall into the ground like a stone."


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: In mid-1942, the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) arrived in Britain and carried out air raids over German-occupied Europe. There are verified accounts of German fighter pilots stopping their attacks to allow bomber crews to parachute from mortally stricken bombers. Nevertheless, the air war was bloody business and the objective of both sides was to wipe out the other. Some USAAF fighter pilots claimed they received unwritten orders from their officers to shoot enemy airmen parachuting over their own territory as they would rejoin their own units upon landing and fly in the air again to kill more Americans. Virgil Meroney of the 487th Fighter Squadron never shot a German pilot in his parachute, although on the other hand, he understood the mean realities of warfare and had no problem about killing an enemy aviator, regardless of whether or not he was helpless.


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: On 8 March 1944, Meroney and his Blue Flight were at the rear of 352d Fighter Group as it reached the end of its escort leg. The group turned to leave as they crossed the Dutch border into Germany near Meppen. "Three Me 109s came out of the sun with a lot of speed and made a 90-degree attack on the rear bombers, breaking away in rolls," Meroney recalled. "I called them in and went after the lead two as they stayed together, the third having broken in a different direction." Meroney drove his P-47 along with his squadron to attack the Germans who were trying to shoot down the USAAF B-17 heavy bombers and fired at the German planes. When the German pilot realized that his Bf 109 was badly in flames, he jumped out of his plane and pulled out his parachute. Meroney and his squadron didn't fire at the German pilot who was parachuting safely back to earth. This might have been because he and his flight were low on fuel and there was no knowing if there were other enemy aircraft in the area. Indeed, that more pilots and aircrew were not shot in their parachutes was probably due at least in part to the nature of aerial combat. The fights were a confusing whirl and a pilot who concentrated too long and hard on killing a man in a parachute could easily fall prey himself and end up, in the position of being shot up while in his parachute. Not shooting enemy pilots in their parachutes was a practical matter as well as a chivalrous one.


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: On 20 December 1943, a B-17 bomber piloted by 2nd Lt. Charles 'Charlie' Brown, after a successful bombing run on the German city of Bremen, was attacked by dozens of German fighters. Brown's bomber was seriously damaged, most of his crewmen were wounded, and his tail gunner was killed. Luftwaffe pilot and ace Franz Stigler then approached the crippled bomber. He was able to see the injured and incapacitated crew. To the American pilot's surprise, Stigler did not open fire on the crippled bomber. Remembering the words of one of his commanding officers from the Jagdgeschwader 27, Gustav Rödel, during his time fighting in North Africa, "You are fighter pilots first, last, always. If I ever hear of any of you shooting at someone in a parachute, I'll shoot you myself." Stigler later commented, "To me, it was just like they were in a parachute. I saw them and I couldn't shoot them down." Twice, Stigler tried to get Brown to land his plane at a German airfield and surrender, or divert to nearby neutral Sweden, where he and his crew would receive medical treatment but be interned and sit out the remainder of the war. Brown refused and flew on. Stigler then flew near Brown's plane, escorting it until they reached the North Sea and departed with a salute.


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: Still, both German and American pilots did shoot enemy airmen in their parachutes, albeit infrequently. Richard "Bud" Peterson, a P-51 pilot with the 357th Fighter Group, based in Leiston, agreed that "normally, "nobody", including the Germans, would be shooting anybody in a parachute. It just wasn't done. I mean, there's no challenge with shooting a guy in a parachute, for God's sake." However, on one mission he saw a Bf 109 systematically firing at American B-17 bomber crews as they descended in their parachutes. After Peterson forced the offending German pilot to bail out, he killed him as he was descending. He recalled that some of his unit were nervous that this would invite a retaliatory response from the Luftwaffe. "But they had to be there to know what I was seeing," Peterson said. "Those guys were helpless, the bomber crews going down".


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: Several German sources (examples below) claim that American pilots frequently practised shooting at parachutes, especially closer to the end of the war when Germany had more planes than pilots:


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: Thaen Kwock Lee was a B-17 waist gunner with the 483rd Bomb Group, a 15th Air Force unit, when his aircraft was shot down by German Me 262s on 22 March 1945. He recalled that he and his crew bailed out in their parachutes and while descending back to earth, they were attacked by German Me 262s:


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: While some American aviators shot enemy airmen in parachutes, the vast majority of USAAF fighter pilots detested the practice as they could not reconcile themselves to the notion of killing helpless enemy airmen. They insisted that they were trying to destroy aircraft rather than pilots. If an enemy airman perished with his aircraft, it was simply the brutal nature of war. But shooting him while he was in his parachute was quite another matter that few of them could stomach, even if he stood a good chance of flying in the air again.


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: USAAF pilot Stanley Miles shared his experience on 13 May 1944, when the 352nd encountered a massive formation of enemy fighters. After getting involved in a dogfight with one of the German planes for a while, Miles shot down the plane, which caused the German pilot to bail out in his parachute. "I had my gun camera running," he recalled, "so I got some good shots of the tracers hitting the plane and the pilot jumping out. My wing-man was still with me, so I eased around, came back and got some nice film footage of the German pilot in his chute." Miles considered shooting the enemy pilot as he drifted helplessly back to earth. It was a topic that he and his squadron units had considered in earnest. "One school of thought was that if you didn't shoot the guy, he'd land and be right back up fighting you the next day. I couldn't do it, however, and just took the film footage of him."


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: Most American pilots used gun cameras to ensure they had adequate proof of their victories. Robert O' Nan of the 487th Fighter Squadron did this on 10 April 1944, after forcing a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 pilot to abandon his aircraft: "I followed the plane down where it crashed, exploded, and burned up, in the middle of a plowed field. I took pictures of this. I also got pictures of the pilot dangling in his chute." None of them were considering shooting German pilots hanging in their parachutes.


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe, felt compelled to specifically forbid the practice. In the directive issued to U.S. Major General Carl Spaatz, commander of the United States Strategic Air Forces in Europe, and British Air Chief Marshal Arthur Tedder (or Sir Arthur Harris according to "D-Day Bombers: The Veterans' Story: RAF Bomber Command and the US Eighth Air Force Support to the Normandy Invasion 1944" by Stephen Darlow) on 2 June 1944, in a preparation for Operation Overlord, he wrote:


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: There were episodes of shooting parachuting aircrew in the Mediterranean theater: on 2 October 1942, Captain Livio Ceccotti of the Regia Aeronautica was engaged by five Allied fighters, reportedly Spitfires, and after a dogfight in which two Spitfires were reportedly downed by him he was hit and forced to bail out from his Macchi C.202 fighter; as he was descending, he was reportedly shot at and killed by the surviving three fighters.


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: While World War II began in Asia with the start of the full-scale war between China and the Empire of Japan, the Japanese gained a bad reputation among the Allies in the war in Asia and the Pacific for shooting enemy airmen dangling in their parachutes. The first confirmed case was over the Chinese city of Nanking on 19 September 1937, during the Second Sino-Japanese War, when Chinese pilot Lt. Liu Lanqing (劉蘭清) of the 17th Pursuit Squadron, 3rd Pursuit Group flying P-26 Model 281 fighters, bailed out in his parachute after being shot down by IJNAS aircraft. Hanging in his parachute, he was killed after being shot by Japanese pilots; Lt. Liu's squadron leader Capt. John Huang Xinrui tried shooting off the Japanese pilots taking turns shooting at Lt. Liu, but was shot down and had to bail out himself, and waited until the last possible moment to rip his parachute cord. Pilots from both the IJNAS and IJAAS did this routinely throughout the war. As a result, Chinese and Russian volunteer pilots delayed opening their parachutes to avoid being shot at. Even after a safe parachute descent, the Japanese still went after them. In July 1938, one Russian volunteer, Valentin Dudonov, bailed out in his parachute and landed on a sand bank in Lake Poyang after a collision with an IJNAS A5M aircraft. Another A5M aircraft came and strafed him on the sand bank. Dudonov had to jump and hide under water in the lake to avoid being attacked. Japan's top ace fighter pilot Tetsuzō Iwamoto was summoned twice to Douglas MacArthur's Allied GHQ office in Tokyo for questioning about attacks on pilots who have bailed out of their aircraft in China and the Pacific War, but was cleared of war crime charges.


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: On 23 December 1941, 12 P-40 pilots of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) Flying Tigers intercepted 54 Japanese bombers escorted by 20 pursuit planes, who were bombing the city of Rangoon in Burma. During the battle, the AVG downed only five Japanese bombers with the loss of two P-40 pilots. P-40 pilot Paul J. Greene's plane was badly damaged which forced him to bail out in his parachute. He was shot at by Japanese fighters while descending to earth but managed to survive. "You want to see my 'chute," he told Daily Express war correspondent O.D. Gallagher. "It's got more holes in it than the nose of a watering-can."


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: On 23 January 1942, the AVG attacked Japanese bombers and fighters who resumed carrying out bombing raids on Rangoon. The AVG shot down 21, suffering only a single loss of a pilot named Bert Christman. During the dogfight, Christman's plane was damaged and he was forced to bail out. While parachuting over the rice paddies south of Rangoon, he was killed after being attacked by three IJAAS Nakajima aircraft. Bert Christman was buried the next day at the church of Edward The Martyr in Rangoon. Christman's remains were returned to his birthplace of Fort Collins, Colorado, after the war, where he was buried on 4 February 1950.


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: In June 1942, as part of the Japanese Midway operation, the Japanese attacked the Aleutian islands, off the south coast of Alaska. Tadayoshi Koga, a 19-year-old flight petty officer first class, was launched from the Japanese aircraft carrier "Ryūjō" as part of the 4 June raid. Koga was part of a three-plane section. His wingmen were Chief Petty Officer Makoto Endo and Petty Officer Tsuguo Shikada. Koga and his comrades attacked Dutch Harbor, shooting down an American PBY-5A Catalina flying boat piloted by Bud Mitchell and strafing its survivors in the water. Three successive attacks killed the PBY's crew. Koga was then killed when his damaged aircraft crash-landed on the island of Akutan.


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: During the Malayan Campaign in 1942, Japanese pilots often shot British, Commonwealth, and Dutch airmen hanging in their parachutes. Australian pilot Herb Plenty witnessed a Dutch Brewster aircraft being shot down by Japanese fighters and the pilot bailed out in his parachute on 17 January 1942, near Bilton Island, some miles of Singapore. He also said that while most Japanese fighters were heading back to their own bases, two of them, however, came back and shot the parachuting Dutch pilot:


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: During the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, where Allied planes attacked a Japanese convoy of destroyers and troop transports, one Allied sortie on 3 March 1943 consisting of B-17 bombers escorted by P-38 fighters was intercepted by Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighters. The A6M Zeros fatally crippled one of the B-17s forcing its crew to bail out in parachutes, then Japanese fighter pilots machine-gunned some of the B-17 crew members as they descended and attacked others in the water after they landed. Five of the Japanese fighters strafing the B-17 aircrew were promptly engaged and shot down by three P-38s which were also lost. On the evenings of 3–5 March, PT boats and planes attacked Japanese rescue vessels, as well as the survivors from the sunken vessels on life rafts and swimming or floating in the sea. This was later justified on the grounds that rescued servicemen would have been rapidly landed at their military destination and promptly returned to active service, as well as being retaliation for the Japanese fighter planes attacking survivors of the downed B-17 bomber. While many of the Allied aircrew accepted these attacks as being necessary, others were sickened.


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: On 31 March 1943, a squadron of USAAF B-24 bombers sent to destroy a bridge at Pyinmana, Burma, were attacked by Japanese Zero fighters. One B-24 aircraft was shot down and its occupants, including 2nd Lt Owen J. Baggett, bailed out. While the downed B-24 crew members were descending, they were machine gunned by Japanese fighters. Two of the crewmen were killed and Baggett was wounded in the arm. He then played dead in his harness, hoping the Japanese would leave him alone. One Japanese plane, however, circled and approached very close to Baggett to make sure he was dead. Baggett raised his M1911 pistol and fired four shots into the cockpit, hitting the pilot; the Zero stalled and crashed. Baggett became legendary as the only person to have downed a Japanese aircraft with a M1911 pistol. The aircraft engaged were Ki 43 Hayabusa, a smaller aircraft that was often mistaken as the Zero due to its similar shape.


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: On 15 September 1943, seven B-24s of the 373d Bombardment Squadron, 308th Bombardment Group, based at Yangkai Airfield were dispatched to attack a Vichy French cement plant in Haiphong, a major port on the Gulf of Tonkin, that had just been turned over to the Japanese though not without resistance from Governor-General of French Indochina, Jean Decoux. Two B-24s, however, broke down while attempting to take off from Yangkai Airfield so the five remaining planes continued the mission. When the five B-24s reached Haiphong, they were attacked by Japanese fighters. One plane went down, forcing the other planes to abandon the mission as they were continuously attacked. Two more planes went down and forced the aircrew to bail out. The Japanese pilots then went after one of the B-24 plane's parachutists and fired at them while they were descending to the ground, killing three and wounding three others. The other two B-24 planes escaped severe damage and returned to Yangkai Airfield (one plane, however, crashed at the airfield, killing the entire crew).


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: On 5 May 1945, an American Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber was flying with a dozen other aircraft after bombing Tachiarai Air Base in southwestern Japan, beginning the return flight to Guam. Kinzou Kasuya, a 19-year-old Japanese pilot flying one of the Japanese fighters in pursuit of the Americans, rammed his aircraft into the fuselage of the B-29, destroying both planes. No one knows for certain how many Americans were in the B-29 as its crew had been hastily assembled on Guam. Villagers in Japan who witnessed the collision in the air saw about a dozen parachutes blossom. One of the Americans died when the cords of his parachute were severed by another Japanese plane. A second was alive when he reached the ground. He shot all but his last bullet at the villagers coming toward him, then used the last on himself. The other nine B-29 airmen who were captured by the Japanese after landing were subjected to vivisection at the Kyushu Imperial University. Professor Ishiyama Fukujirō and other doctors conducted four such sessions throughout May and early-June. The Western Military Command assisted in arranging these operations. Many of the Japanese personnel responsible for the deaths of Allied airmen were prosecuted in the Yokohama War Crimes Trials following World War II. Several of those found guilty were executed and the remainder were imprisoned.


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: 1953 Avro Lincoln shootdown incident: German civilians on the ground reported that two British airmen bailed out from the doomed aircraft, only to be strafed and killed by one of the Soviet MiG 15s.


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: From the start of the Vietnam War, there were many reports of South Vietnamese and American pilots being shot at in their parachutes. Most notably, such events occurred during the peak of Operation Rolling Thunder, where many pilots recalled being shot at with small arms fire, presumably from Type 56 assault rifles. Pilots who made it through the small arms fire were often captured and sent to POW camps, where they faced extreme punishment and torture. Other pilots were also forced to march down the Ho Chi Minh Trail as a form of torture and punishment.


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: During pitched aerial battles between fighter pilots of the Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF) and those of the USAF and USN on 10 May 1972, the second day of the almost-six month long "Operation Linebacker "air interdiction campaign against North Vietnam, four MiG-17s from the 923rd Fighter Regiment were flying in defense of bridges at Hải Dương which were being attacked by a strike-force of A-6 "Intruders", A-7 "Corsairs II"s and F-4 "Phantom II"s. MiG-17 pilot Do Hang was shot down by AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles fired from Lt. Duke Cunningham's (and his RIO Lt.jg Willy Driscoll) F-4 in the ensuing air battle, and while successfully ejecting from his stricken MiG-17, Do Hang was then killed by 20mm gunfire from American fighter aircraft making strafing passes at him while descending underneath his parachute; two more MiG-17s were shot-down by the F-4s of Lt. Cunningham and Lt. Connelly (pilots Nguyen Van Tho and Tra Van Kiem both "KIA"), while the MiG-17 piloted by Ta Ding Trung, who pursued the A-7s, out to sea, but was unable to score any hits, was able to return to base and survive the battle. MiG-21s from the 927th Fighter Regiment arrived moments later, directed by ground control intercept command (GCI) towards the F-4s now at about 10km north of Hải Dương; R-3S "Atoll" missiles fired from Vu Duc Hop's and Le Thanh Dao's MiG-21s found their mark against the F-4s of Cunningham/Driscoll and Blackburn/Rudloff respectively, and while Cunningham/Driscoll were able eject out at sea and be rescued (with pilot Cunningham famously fabricating the ""Colonel Toon"" tale in aftermath), Blackburn/Rudloff were seen to have both ejected and their parachutes going down over land, but only Lt. Rudloff was ever manifested on the "POW" list by North Vietnamese records."" The remains of Cmdr. Harry L. Blackburn were returned to the Americans on 10 April 1986.


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: VPAF MiG-21 ace fighter pilot Le Thanh Dao would fly his final mission against U.S. aircraft on 15 October, 1972 when he was shot down by USAF F-4E Phantoms, and while safely ejecting from his stricken MiG, at least one Phantom fired cannon shells at him underneath his parachute, puncturing holes into his parachute, causing a high-rate of descent which upon landing, broken both his legs and his vertebra; Le Thanh Dao would spend over a year recovering from the injuries before returning to flight duty.


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: Unconfirmed reports from Soviet sources suggest at least 5 Soviet pilots had been shot and killed either in their parachutes or on the ground after landing. 2 of which are presumed to be MiG-21 pilots in scattered reports estimated between April 1984 and July 1984. Possible evidence points to two MiG-21s that went missing in May 1984, in which the pilots had bailed out, but had gone missing. In 1985, 3 other pilots were shot down confirmed dead after Mujahideen fighters had reportedly taken responsibility, claiming that they had shot the pilots after they had ejected, with pieces of the ejection seat as proof. The group was possibly carrying out strike missions near Kabul, as it fits the description, as well as locals reporting several strike fighters in the area just before being shot down.


title: Attacks on parachutists

text: In September 2015, Russia conducted military operations within Syria in furtherance of securing areas, bombing areas held by terrorist groups, including the Syrian Turkmen Brigades, which operate close to the Syria–Turkey border. On 24 November 2015, a Russian Su-24 attack jet was shot down by a Turkish F-16C, and the two pilots ejected within Syrian territory controlled by Turkmen rebels. A commander of the Syrian Turkmen Brigades told Reuters that his forces opened fire on a pilot parachuting from the downed aircraft while attempting to land in non-rebel territory, and the group uploaded an image of rebel soldiers holding flaps of a NPP Zvezda K-36 ejection seat. Russian RIA later reported after retrieval that one of the pilots was killed by gunfire.


title: Exile in Guyville

text: Exile in Guyville is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Liz Phair, released on June 22, 1993, by Matador Records. It was recorded at Idful Music Corporation in Chicago between 1992 and 1993 and produced by Phair and Brad Wood. The album received critical acclaim for its concept and its ability to combine indie rock, lo-fi and riot grrrl music. In 2020, it was ranked 56 by "Rolling Stone" in its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. It was certified gold in 1998 and as of July 2010 it had sold 491,000 copies.


title: Exile in Guyville

text: In the summer of 1991, Phair wrote and recorded songs on audio cassette tapes, which she circulated in Chicago using the moniker Girly-Sound. Initially, she sent out only two tapes, one to Tae Won Yu from the band Kicking Giant, and the other to Chris Brokaw. The recipients of the Girly-Sound tapes circulated copies with other early fans.


title: Exile in Guyville

text: John Henderson, owner of the Chicago indie label Feel Good All Over, heard the tapes and contacted Phair. Soon she moved into his apartment and started playing her songs to him. Henderson brought in producer Brad Wood to help develop the 4-track demos into full songs. Originally, Phair's recordings were supposed to come out on Henderson's label. However, the whole process was made difficult by the fact that he and Phair had opposite ideas regarding what direction to take in terms of sound. Henderson preferred a stripped-down but precise sound, possibly with outside musicians, while Phair wanted a fuller sound. Phair has stated, "We both wanted something for me. He was projecting onto me what he wanted my music to come out like, which was wrong. So I blew him off." Eventually, Henderson stopped showing up at the studio, which made Phair move out of his apartment and start working exclusively with Brad Wood on what would become "Exile in Guyville".


title: Exile in Guyville

text: Eventually, a Girly-Sound tape had made it to the head of Matador Records. Despite the outcome of the recording sessions, Henderson tipped off Brad Wood that Matador was interested in Phair. When Matador was contacted by Phair in 1992, they signed her. Gerard Cosloy, co-president of Matador, stated that "We usually don't sign people we haven't met, or heard other records by, or seen as performers. But I had a hunch, and I called her back and said okay."


title: Exile in Guyville

text: After the early sessions with John Henderson, Liz Phair started working with producer Brad Wood at Idful Studios, in 1992. Wood stated, "We did two or three evenings of recording just for fun where we tried to discover something. We recorded "Fuck and Run," and that's when I realized we were on to something. This really spare beat: just guitar, drums and vocals. It was right: simple, driving, direct and blunt. It had so much exuberance." These sessions were thereby very different from the recording sessions with John Henderson. Eventually, engineer Casey Rice joined Idful and started working with Phair and Wood as she had no band of her own.


title: Exile in Guyville

text: Initially, there were many time constraints because Phair had moved into her parents' house which was far from the studio, and Wood had to manage his time between his work at the studio and his work as a janitor. However, when Phair signed to Matador, she sublet an apartment close to the studio, which simplified the process.


title: Exile in Guyville

text: Regarding the recording process, Casey Rice stated, "We basically all sat around and thought about how to make the guitar and vocals versions of the songs into what we thought would be better ones. Listen to her four-track versions of the tunes, and try to come up with ways of doing them as a 'band'. I do recall there being no lack of candor and if someone wanted to do something, we tried it. If it sucked, no one would hesitate to say so if they believed it."


title: Exile in Guyville

text: Brad Wood provided a different recording approach, structuring the drum patterns and bass lines around Phair's vocal phrases and guitar riffs, instead of recording the rhythm section first and then layering the guitars and vocals on top. Phair has commented, "It was fun. Actually we just played our parts separately. I laid down the guitar, and then I would just tell them what kind of song it would be and what kinds of instruments we needed to do. And then they would go in there and figure out a part and then do it. It was more like collage work than really playing with a band."


title: Exile in Guyville

text: "Johnny Sunshine" was one of the first songs recorded in 1992 that eventually made the record. The songs "Fuck and Run", "Never Said" (as "Clean"), "Girls! Girls! Girls!", "Flower", "Johnny Sunshine", "Divorce Song", "Soap Star Joe", "Shatter", and "Stratford-on-Guy" (as "Bomb") all originated from a set of home recordings by Phair under the moniker Girly-Sound, and were re-recorded for the album.


title: Exile in Guyville

text: Phair was also responsible for a great part of the artwork design. Originally, the album cover was largely collage based and involved "a fat lady in a pool". In 2008, Phair stated it was originally "an orgy of Barbies floating in a pool", a concept that Matador rejected, stating that such artwork would not sell. The final cover design is a photo of Liz topless in a photo booth, taken and cropped by Nash Kato of Urge Overkill. The interior artwork is based on that of Lopez Tejera's 1952 album "The Joys and Sorrows of Andalusia". The booklet also features a collage of several Polaroid photos of Phair, Wood, Rice (and various other people), with a paraphrase from lines from the movie "Dirty Harry".


title: Exile in Guyville

text: The term "Guyville" comes from a song of the same name by Urge Overkill. Liz Phair explained the concept of the album in a "Billboard" article, stating that "For me, Guyville is a concept that combines the smalltown mentality of a 500-person Knawbone, KY.-type town with the Wicker Park indie music scene in Chicago, plus the isolation of every place I've lived in, from Cincinnati to Winnetka". When asked during an interview with Noah Adams on his radio show "All Things Considered" about the concept, she elaborated: "It was a state of mind and / or neighborhood that I was living in. Guyville, because it was definitely their sensibilities that held the aesthetic, you know what I mean? It was sort of guy things - comic books with really disfigured, screwed-up people in them, this sort of like constant love of social aberration. You know what I mean? This kind of guy mentality, you know, where men are men and women are learning." Asked about what she sees in Guyville, Phair said that "All the guys have short, cropped hair, John Lennon glasses, flannel shirts, unpretentiously worn, not as a grunge statement. Work boots."


title: Exile in Guyville

text: Phair has also stated that most songs on the album were not about her. She commented, "That stuff didn't happen to me, and that's what made writing it interesting. I wasn't connecting with my friends. I wasn't connecting with relationships. I was in love with people who couldn't care less about me. I was yearning to be part of a scene. I was in a posing kind of mode, yearning to have things happen for me that weren't happening. So I wanted to make it seem real and convincing. I wrote the whole album for a couple people to see and know me."


title: Exile in Guyville

text: Phair commented in interviews that the album was a song-by-song reply to The Rolling Stones' 1972 album "Exile on Main St." Some critics contend that the album is not a clear or obvious song-by-song response, although Phair sequenced her compositions in an attempt to match the songlist and pacing of the Rolling Stones album.


title: Exile in Guyville

text: "Exile in Guyville r"eceived critical acclaim. It was the No. 1 album in the year-end critics poll in "Spin" and the "Village Voice" Pazz & Jop critics poll.


title: Exile in Guyville

text: It was also a moderate commercial success. The videos for "Never Said" and "Stratford-On-Guy" received airplay on MTV. By the spring of 1994, it had sold over 200,000 units, peaking at No. 196 on the "Billboard" 200 and was Matador's most successful release at the time. In 1998, it was certified gold by the RIAA.


title: Exile in Guyville

text: Phair reacted to the reception of "Guyville", saying "I don't really get what happened with "Guyville". It was so normal, from my side of things. It was nothing remarkable, other than the fact that I'd completed a big project, but I'd done that before... Being emotionally forthright was the most radical thing I did. And that was taken to mean something bigger in terms of women's roles in society and women's roles in music... I just wanted people who thought I was not worth talking to, to listen to me." The sudden success of the album also generated a somewhat negative response from Chicago’s indie music scene. Phair commented, "It's odd... "Guyville" was such a part of indie. But at the same time... I was kind of at war with indie when I made that record." Another problem that arose from her success was also dealing with her stage fright.


title: Exile in Guyville

text: Despite this, the album inspired a number of imitators, and the lo-fi sound and emotional honesty of Phair's lyrics were frequently cited by critics as outstanding qualities. It frequently appears on many critics' best-of lists. It was ranked 15 in "Spin"s "100 Greatest Albums, 1985–2005". VH1 named "Exile in Guyville" the 96th Greatest Album Of All-Time. The album was ranked #56 on "Rolling Stone"s 2020 reboot of their The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list (it was ranked #328 in the original 2003 list and #327 in the 2012 revision). In 1999, "Pitchfork" rated "Exile in Guyville" as the fifth best album of the 1990s. However, in its 2003 revision of the list, it moved to No. 30. Robert Christgau named it among his 10 best albums from the 1990s.


title: Exile in Guyville

text: In 2013, "The New Yorker"s Bill Wyman dubbed it "patently one of the strongest rock albums ever made", feeling that each song "reverberates powerfully". He described it as "arguably the quintessential example" of indie rock. "PopMatters" David Chiu wrote that "Exile" lay bedroom pop music's groundwork. He noted that several indie bands and musicians had gained their "musical DNA" from the record, such as Frankie Cosmos, Jay Som, and more.


title: Exile in Guyville

text: In 2008, Phair signed to ATO Records and released a 15th-anniversary reissue of "Exile in Guyville" on June 14. It includes three previously unreleased tracks ("Ant in Alaska", a cover of Lynn Taitt's "Say You" and an instrumental listed on the disc as "Standing") and a DVD documentary.


title: Exile in Guyville

text: On May 4, 2018, Matador reissued "Exile in Guyville" for its 25th anniversary. The reissue consists of the original album remastered and Phair's three Girly-Sound demo tapes, marking the first time that the full set of demo tapes had been officially released. The reissue was released in four formats: the physical LP box set, the digital deluxe edition, as well as cassette and CD pressings. Absent from the reissue are the two Girly-Sound demos "Shatter" and "Fuck or Die", as Phair was unable to get clearance for samples used in the songs.


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: The 2011 PlayStation Network outage (sometimes referred to as the PSN Hack) was the result of an "external intrusion" on Sony's PlayStation Network and Qriocity services, in which personal details from approximately 77 million accounts were compromised and prevented users of PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable consoles from accessing the service. The attack occurred between April 17 and April 19, 2011, forcing Sony to turn off the PlayStation Network on April 20. On May 4, Sony confirmed that personally identifiable information from each of the 77 million accounts had been exposed. The outage lasted 23 days.


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: At the time of the outage, with a count of 77 million registered PlayStation Network accounts, it was not only one of the largest data security breaches, but also the longest PS Network outage in history. It surpassed the 2007 TJX hack which affected 45 million customers. Government officials in various countries voiced concern over the theft and Sony's one-week delay before warning its users.


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: Sony stated on April 26 that it was attempting to get online services running "within a week." On May 14, Sony released PlayStation 3 firmware version 3.61 as a security patch. The firmware required users to change their account's password upon signing in. At the time the firmware was released, the network was still offline. Regional restoration was announced by Kazuo Hirai in a video from Sony. A map of regional restoration and the network within the United States was shared as the service was coming back online.


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: Sometime In March 2010, Sony had released a firmware update for the PlayStation 3, which had patched functionality to use 3rd Party Operating Systems, such as Linux, on the System. This had caused outrage in the System's modding community, as the 3rd Party Operating Systems were used frequently in modification.


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: On January 2, 2011, George Hotz had successfully jailbroke the PlayStation 3 firmware. A day later, he had started distributing the jailbreak through his website.


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: On January 11, 2011, Sony had filed a lawsuit against Hotz, for distributing software to jailbreak their systems on his website.


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: On April 2, 2011, a group of hackers claiming to be Anonymous, had declared "Operation Sony". Later the same week, On April 11th, Sony had dropped the lawsuit with Hotz.


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: On April 13th, the group had released a video in text to speech, calling for "A day of Sony Protest".


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: On April 20, 2011, Sony acknowledged on the official PlayStation Blog that it was "aware certain functions of the PlayStation Network" were down. Upon attempting to sign in via the PlayStation 3, users received a message indicating that the network was "undergoing maintenance". The following day, Sony asked its customers for patience while the cause of outage was investigated and stated that it may take "a full day or two" to get the service fully functional again.


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: The company later announced an "external intrusion" had affected the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services. This intrusion occurred between April 17 and April 19. On April 20, Sony suspended all PlayStation Network and Qriocity services worldwide. Sony expressed their regrets for the downtime and called the task of repairing the system "time-consuming" but would lead to a stronger network infrastructure and additional security. On April 25, Sony spokesman Patrick Seybold reiterated on the PlayStation Blog that fixing and enhancing the network was a "time intensive" process with no estimated time of completion. However, the next day Sony stated that there was a "clear path to have PlayStation Network and Qriocity systems back online", with some services expected to be restored within a week. Furthermore, Sony acknowledged the "compromise of personal information as a result of an illegal intrusion on our systems."


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: On May 1 Sony announced a "Welcome Back" program for customers affected by the outage. The company also confirmed that some PSN and Qriocity services would be available during the first week of May. The list of services expected to become available included:


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: On May 2 Sony issued a press release, according to which the Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) services had been taken offline for maintenance due to potentially related activities during the initial criminal hack. Over 12,000 credit card numbers, albeit in encrypted form, from non-U.S. cardholders and additional information from 24.7 million SOE accounts may have been accessed.


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: During the week, Sony sent a letter to the US House of Representatives, answering questions and concerns about the event. In the letter Sony announced that they would be providing Identity Theft insurance policies in the amount of US$1 million per user of the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services, despite no reports of credit card fraud being indicated. This was later confirmed on the PlayStation Blog, where it was announced that the service, AllClear ID Plus powered by Debix, would be available to users in the United States free for 12 months, and would include Internet surveillance, complete identity repair in the event of theft and a $1 million identity theft insurance policy for each user.


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: On May 6 Sony stated they had begun "final stages of internal testing" for the PlayStation Network, which had been rebuilt. However, the following day Sony reported that they would not be able to bring services back online within the one-week timeframe given on May 1, because "the extent of the attack on Sony Online Entertainment servers" had not been known at the time. SOE confirmed on their Twitter account that their games would not be available until some time after the weekend.


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: Reuters began reporting the event as "the biggest Internet security break-in ever". A Sony spokesperson said:


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: On May 14 various services began coming back online on a country-by-country basis, starting with North America. These services included: sign-in for PSN and Qriocity services (including password resetting), online game-play on PS3 and PSP, playback of rental video content, Music Unlimited service (PS3 and PC), access to third party services (such as Netflix, Hulu, Vudu and MLB.tv), friends list, chat functionality and PlayStation Home. The actions came with a firmware update for the PS3, version 3.61. As of May 15 service in Japan and East Asia had not yet been approved.


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: On May 18 SOE shut down the password reset page on their site following the discovery of another exploit that allowed users to reset other users' passwords, using the other user's email address and date of birth. Sign-in using PSN details to various other Sony websites was also disabled, but console sign-ins were not affected.


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: On April 26, 2011 Sony explained on the PlayStation Blog why it took so long to inform PSN users of the data theft:


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: Possible data theft led Sony to provide an update in regards to a criminal investigation in a blog posted on April 27: "We are currently working with law enforcement on this matter as well as a recognized technology security firm to conduct a complete investigation. This malicious attack against our system and against our customers is a criminal act and we are proceeding aggressively to find those responsible."


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: On May 3 Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Kazuo Hirai reiterated this and said the "external intrusion" which had caused them to shut down the PlayStation Network constituted a "criminal cyber attack". Hirai expanded further, claiming that Sony systems had been under attack prior to the outage "for the past month and half", suggesting a concerted attempt to target Sony.


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: On May 4 Sony announced that it was adding Data Forte to the investigation team of Guidance Software and Protiviti in analysing the attacks. Legal aspects of the case were handled by Baker & McKenzie. Sony stated their belief that Anonymous, a decentralized unorganized loosely affiliated group of hackers and activists may have performed the attack. No Anons claimed any involvement.


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: Upon learning that a breach had occurred, Sony launched an internal investigation. Sony reported, in its letter to the United States Congress:


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: While most games remained playable in their offline modes, the PlayStation 3 was unable to play certain Capcom titles in any form. Streaming video providers throughout different regions such as Hulu, Vudu, Netflix and LoveFilm displayed the same maintenance message. Some users claimed to be able to use Netflix's streaming service but others were unable.


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: On April 26 nearly a week after the outage, Sony confirmed that it "cannot rule out the possibility" that personally identifiable information such as PlayStation Network account username, password, home address, and email address had been compromised. Sony also mentioned the possibility that credit card data was taken—after claiming that encryption had been placed on the databases, which would partially satisfy PCI Compliance for storing credit card information on a server.


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: Subsequent to the announcement on both the official blog and by e-mail, users were asked to safeguard credit card transactions by checking bank statements. This warning came nearly a week after the initial "external intrusion" and while the Network was turned off.


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: Some disputed this explanation and queried that if Sony deemed the situation so severe that they had to turn off the network, Sony should have warned users of possible data theft sooner than on April 26. Concerns have been raised over violations of PCI Compliance and the failure to immediately notify users. US Senator Richard Blumenthal wrote to Sony Computer Entertainment America CEO Jack Tretton questioning the delay.


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: Credit card data was encrypted, but Sony admitted that other user information was not encrypted at the time of the intrusion. "The Daily Telegraph" reported that "If the provider stores passwords unencrypted, then it's very easy for somebody else – not just an external attacker, but members of staff or contractors working on Sony's site – to get access and discover those passwords, potentially using them for nefarious means."


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: Following a formal investigation of Sony for breaches of the UK's Data Protection Act 1998, the Information Commissioners' Office issued a statement highly critical of the security Sony had in place:


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: Sony was fined £250,000 ($395k) for security measures so poor they did not comply with the British law.


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: On May 3 Sony stated in a press release that there may be a correlation between the attack that had occurred on April 16 towards the PlayStation Network and one that compromised Sony Online Entertainment on May 2. This portion of the attack resulted in the theft of information on 24.6 million Sony Online Entertainment account holders. The database contained 12,700 credit card numbers, particularly those of non-U.S. residents, and had not been in use since 2007 as much of the data applied to expired cards and deleted accounts. Sony updated this information the following day by stating that only 900 cards on the database were still valid. The attack resulted in the suspension of SOE servers and Facebook games. SOE granted 30 days of free time, plus one day for each day the server was down, to users of "Clone Wars Adventures", "DC Universe Online", "EverQuest", "EverQuest II", "EverQuest Online Adventures", "Free Realms", "Pirates of the Burning Sea", "PlanetSide", "Poxnora", "Star Wars Galaxies" and "", as well as other forms of compensation for all other Sony Online games.


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: Security experts Eugene Lapidous of AnchorFree, Chester Wisniewski of Sophos Canada and Avner Levin of Ryerson University criticized Sony, questioning its methods of securing user data. Lapidous called the breach "difficult to excuse" and Wisniewski called it "an act of hubris or simply gross incompetence".


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: Sony hosted special events after the PlayStation Network returned to service. Sony stated that they had plans for PS3 versions of DC Universe Online and Free Realms to help alleviate some of their losses. In a press conference in Tokyo on May 1, Sony announced a "Welcome Back" program. As well as "selected PlayStation entertainment content" the program promised to include 30 days free membership of PlayStation Plus for all PSN members, while existing PlayStation Plus members received an additional 30 days on their subscription. Qriocity subscribers received 30 days. Sony promised other content and services over the coming weeks. Sony offered one year free identity theft protection to all users with details forthcoming.


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: Hulu compensated PlayStation 3 users for the inability to use their service during the outage by offering one week of free service to Hulu Plus members.


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: On May 16, 2011, Sony announced that two PlayStation 3 games and two PSP games would be offered for free from lists of five and four, respectively. The games available varied by region and were only available in countries which had access to the PlayStation Store prior to the outage. On May 27, 2011, Sony announced the "welcome back" package for Japan and the Asia region (Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia). In the Asia region, a theme - "Dokodemo Issyo Spring Theme" - was offered for free in addition to the games available in the "welcome back" package.


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: The data theft concerned authorities around the world. Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, said the breach "certainly ranks as one of the biggest data losses ever to affect individuals".


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: The British Information Commissioner's Office stated that Sony would be questioned, and that an investigation would take place to discover whether Sony had taken adequate precautions to protect customer details. Under the UK's Data Protection Act, Sony was fined £250,000 for the breach.


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: Privacy Commissioner of Canada Jennifer Stoddart confirmed that the Canadian authorities would investigate. The Commissioner's office conveyed their concern as to why the authorities in Canada weren't informed of a security breach earlier.


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: US Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut demanded answers from Sony about the data breach by emailing SCEA CEO Jack Tretton arguing about the delay in informing its customers and insisting that Sony do more for its customers than just offer free credit reporting services. Blumenthal later called for an investigation by the US Department of Justice to find the person or persons responsible and to determine if Sony was liable for the way that it handled the situation.


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack and Congressman G. K. Butterfield sent a letter to Sony, demanding information on when the breach was discovered and how the crisis would be handled.


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: Sony had been asked to testify before a congressional hearing on security and to answer questions about the breach of security on May 2, but sent a written response instead.


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: A lawsuit was posted on April 27 by Kristopher Johns from Birmingham, Alabama on behalf of all PlayStation users alleging Sony "failed to encrypt data and establish adequate firewalls to handle a server intrusion contingency, failed to provide prompt and adequate warnings of security breaches, and unreasonably delayed in bringing the PSN service back online." According to the complaint filed in the lawsuit, Sony failed to notify members of a possible security breach and storing members' credit card information, a violation of PCI Compliance—the digital security standard for the Payment Card Industry.


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: A Canadian lawsuit against Sony USA, Sony Canada and Sony Japan claimed damages up to C$1 billion including free credit monitoring and identity theft insurance. The plaintiff was quoted as saying, "If you can't trust a huge multi-national corporation like Sony to protect your private information, who can you trust? It appears to me that Sony focuses more on protecting its games than its PlayStation users".


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: In October 2012 a California judge dismissed a lawsuit against Sony over the PSN security breach, ruling that Sony had not violated California's consumer-protection laws, citing "there is no such thing as perfect security".


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: In 2013 United Kingdom Information Commissioner's Office charged Sony with a £250,000 penalty for putting a large amount of personal and financial data of PSN clients at risk.


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: , there were no verifiable reports of credit card fraud related to the outage. There were reports on the Internet that some PlayStation users experienced credit card fraud; however, they were yet to be linked to the incident. Users who registered a credit card for use only with Sony also reported credit card fraud. Sony said that the CSC codes requested by their services were not stored, but hackers may have been able to decrypt or record credit card details while inside Sony's network.


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: On May 5, a letter from Sony Corporation of America CEO and President Sir Howard Stringer emphasized that there had been no evidence of credit card fraud and that a $1 million identity theft insurance policy would be available to PSN and Qriocity users:


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: It has been suggested that a change to the PSN terms and conditions announced on September 15, 2011, was motivated by the large damages being claimed by class action suits against Sony, in an effort to minimise the company's losses. The new agreement required users to agree to give up their right (to join together as a group in a class action) to sue Sony over any future security breach, without first trying to resolve legal issues with an arbitrator. This included any ongoing class action suits initiated prior to August 20, 2011.


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: Another clause, which removed a user's right to trial by jury should the user opt out of the clause (by sending a letter to Sony), says:


title: 2011 PlayStation Network outage

text: Sony guaranteed that a court of law in the respective country, in this case the US, would hold jurisdiction in regards to any rules or changes in the Sony PSN ToS:


title: Todd Carty

text: Todd Carty also known as Todd John Jennings (born Todd Robert Carty; 31 August 1963) is an English actor and director who has grown up on television screens in a variety of roles. His stage appearances have ranged from pantomime to serious drama, and he has worked on radio plays, voiceovers, commercials, narrations and films. He is best known for TV roles as Tucker Jenkins in "Grange Hill" and "Tucker's Luck", Mark Fowler in "EastEnders", and PC Gabriel Kent in "The Bill".


title: Todd Carty

text: Carty was born in Willesden, London as Todd R Carty to an unmarried Irish mother, Margaret M. Carty, who hailed from Limerick. Margaret subsequently married Thomas Jennings in 1972 who later adopted Carty and legally changed his name to Todd John Jennings. Through his parents, Carty is a dual citizen of the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. He grew up in Kilburn, West Hampstead and Harrow on the Hill, London. He has two younger sisters named Billie Joe and Bobby Sue, who respectively work as a lawyer and a teacher. Carty was educated at the Phildene Stage School, a co-educational independent school in Chiswick in West London.


title: Todd Carty

text: Carty's first television appearance in the UK was in an advertisement for Woolworths at the age of four. He also had other advertising and Public Information Film roles, including one with "Doctor Who" actor Jon Pertwee for the "Green Cross Code".


title: Todd Carty

text: Carty made his first stage appearance at the New London Theatre, Drury Lane, London, as the young Lionel in Lionel Bart's autobiographical musical "Lionel!"; however, his career in his youth was mostly defined by his television role as Tucker Jenkins in the BBC children's drama "Grange Hill" (1978–1982) and the spin-off series "Tucker's Luck" (1983–1985).


title: Todd Carty

text: During the 1970s and 1980s, Carty also appeared in "Z-Cars" (1976), "Our Mutual Friend", "Drummer", and "Headmaster", all for the BBC; and, for German TV, "Focus on Britain" and "The Idle Bunch". His film work included "Please Sir!" (1971) and "Professor Popper's Problem" (1974). In 1983, he landed the role of Oswyn in the fantasy film "Krull" opposite Kenneth Marshall, Lysette Anthony, Liam Neeson, and Alun Armstrong, among others.


title: Todd Carty

text: Carty took over the role of original character Mark Fowler in the BBC One soap opera "EastEnders" in 1990, following the death of the original actor, David Scarboro. Carty played the role for 13 years, becoming one of the longest-running male cast members. In July 2002, the BBC announced Mark Fowler was being written out of the serial, a mutual decision between the producers and Carty. Executive producer Louise Berridge said Carty had made a "fantastic contribution" to the soap and Mark had been a "pivotal figure", but the character had finally run its course: "Todd and I have discussed this at some length and agreed that it was time for Mark to hang up his leather jacket for the last time. We will all miss Todd, who is one of our best-loved actors, and wish him every success in the future." Carty made his final appearance as Mark in February 2003, riding out of the Square on his motorbike. The character subsequently died off screen in 2004.


title: Todd Carty

text: After leaving "EastEnders" in 2003, Carty went on to play PC Gabriel Kent, in ITV's "The Bill" from 2003 to 2005. Carty has since revealed he broke his "EastEnders" contract a year earlier than planned to take on this new role.


title: Todd Carty

text: Carty starred as Randy Candy in the film The Candy Show (1989). While still in "EastEnders" in 1997, Carty appeared with former "EastEnders" co-star Nick Berry in the Victorian period adventure film The Black Velvet Band, a Spaghetti Western-style drama.


title: Todd Carty

text: Carty was the subject of a This Is Your Life tribute in 2000. Guests included Wendy Richard, Norman Wisdom, Nick Berry, his girlfriend Dina Clarkin, sons James Carty and Thomas Carty, and his father-in-law, actor Tony Clarkin.


title: Todd Carty

text: After leaving "The Bill" in 2005, Carty returned to the big screen as the aristocrat Harvey Van Bollingbroke in the film "Treasure of Albion" (2006). Carty acted in "The School that Roared" (2009) as the eccentric Mr Haig, and was also the second-unit director. He appeared as Mr Keller in the 2010 film "Blame".


title: Todd Carty

text: Carty has guest-starred as Ray Hallam in the Christmas special of the TV series "Heartbeat", and in BBC's "Holby City", as villain Cameron Cooke. In 2008, he guest-starred in BBC's "Doctors", playing the part of Kev Blake.


title: Todd Carty

text: In 2003, Carty reprised the role of Tucker Jenkins in "Grange Hill", as the uncle of one of the pupils, Patrick "Togger" Johnson. He appeared in just this one episode, but he was brought back once again to film for "Grange Hill's" final series, broadcast in 2008 – a one-off special episode to celebrate the 30th birthday of the long-running BBC show. Carty appeared as Tucker in the final televised episode of "Grange Hill", screened on Monday 15 September 2008 on BBC One.


title: Todd Carty

text: Carty was a guest on the BBC One show "I'd Do Anything", in May 2008, with Cameron Mackintosh, helping to choose one of the selected boys to play Oliver Twist for the new West End production of "Oliver!".


title: Todd Carty

text: Carty and his elder son, James, filmed together in a factual television series for Channel 5, "Dangerous Adventures For Boys", based on the book written by Conn and Hal Iggulden, "The Dangerous Book for Boys". James Carty, aged 11 at the time of broadcast, became the youngest person to drive a steam train across the North York Moors 18-mile line from Grosmont, North Yorkshire to Pickering, built in the 1830s.


title: Todd Carty

text: Carty appeared in the fourth series of the UK version of "Dancing on Ice", which began on 10 January 2009. Carty partnered professional skater Susie Lipanova and was heavily criticised by the judging panel for his apparent lack of skating ability. In the weeks he and Lipanova competed, they finished bottom of the leaderboard for their first week, 9.5 for their next appearance in week three, and 7.5 and 8.5 for weeks four and five respectively. During the routine in week three, Carty lost control on the ice so badly that he ended up stumbling into the off-stage area, disappearing from public view, leaving Lipanova to complete the routine alone, returning just in time to complete his routine to the Beatles song Help. The public vote carried the couple through to the next round and was described as one of the funniest moments ever captured on television. He was finally eliminated in the 5th round.


title: Todd Carty

text: He also competed with Alexandra Schauman in the ninth and final series of "Dancing on Ice" until it returned in 2018, which was an "All-Stars" series.


title: Todd Carty

text: Carty's radio work includes such dramas as "Les Misérables"; "The Three Loves of Ida Bliss", "We Are Happy", "Wavelength", "Midweek", "Jellybones", "The London Particulars", "Bringing Eddie Home", and "The Chocolate Frigate". Narration work includes "Paddington Green", the story of the New York City Subway's Guardian Angels' "Scene in New York", "The Fame Game", "Driving Mum Crazy", "Snapshot-Eddie Kidd", "The Jungle Creatures", and many more. In 1989, Carty reprised the role of Tucker in the musical stage version of the television series "Grange Hill": "Grange Hill: Tucker's Return", at the Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch. Between 2007 and 2008, he toured the UK in "The Business of Murder" as Police Detective Hallett. Todd Carty and Wendy Richard (who played his screen mother Pauline in "EastEnders") presented "50 Greatest Families" on Sky One in March 2008.


title: Todd Carty

text: Carty also appeared in a BBC Radio 4 Play of the day "Bringing Eddie Home" by John Peacock, based on a true story of the fight by East End couple Edna and Jack Wallace to get their son's body brought home from Aden, and the ensuing fight for the rights of British Service service personnel. Carty played the role of the younger Jack Wallace and the play also included other ex-EastEnders actors Bill Treacher, Tilly Vosburgh, Edna Doré and Joe Absolom


title: Todd Carty

text: Carty starred as Patsy, from May 2010, to 2015, in the Monty Python touring production of "Spamalot".


title: Todd Carty

text: Carty has played Ali Baba in the BBC Christmas pantomime "Aladdin", and starred as Buttons in "Cinderella" at the Gatehouse Theatre Stafford from 14 December 1993 to 2 January 1994. He later starred with Barbara Windsor as the captain's mate in Dick Whittington at the Orchard Theatre, Dartford.


title: Todd Carty

text: He appeared as "King Rat" with Basil Brush in the pantomime "Dick Whittington" at the Wycombe Swan Theatre between 2005 and 2006. He reprised the role of King Rat in a new version of "Dick Whittington", at the Capitol Theatre, Horsham, which ran from 13 December 2007 to 6 January 2008. In December 2008, Carty starred as the evil Ferdinand Fleshcreep (The Giant's Evil Assistant) in "Jack and the Beanstalk" at the Queen's Theatre in Barnstaple. The show ran from 12 December 2008 to 4 January 2009. Carty starred as Buttons in "Cinderella" at the Pavilion Theatre Worthing from 10 December 2009 to 3 January 2010. In December 2014, he appeared in the Chatham Theatre pantomime production of Aladdin, (with Twist and Pulse, produced by Jordan Productions).


title: Todd Carty

text: Carty again played Flashcreep in "Jack and the Beanstalk", in a production at the Newark Palace Theatre in Newark-on-Trent (7 – 31 December 2016).


title: Todd Carty

text: Played Captain Hook in Peter Pan at Watersmeet theatre in Rickmansworth from December 2019 to January 2020.


title: Todd Carty

text: Carty and his partner, actress/writer and film producer Dina Clarkin, have set up a film production company, Swordfish Productions. In July 2007 Carty made his debut as director of several episodes of the BBC's daytime soap opera, "Doctors". Carty directed his first feature film, The Perfect Burger (2010), made with the Co-operative British Youth Film Academy, set in the Leicestershire town of Hinckley. The film was mainly shot at the Hinckley campus of North Warwickshire and Hinckley College.


title: Todd Carty

text: Carty lives in Muswell Hill, North London. He has been in a relationship since 1990 with his business partner, actress/writer and film producer Dina Clarkin – the daughter of Irish actor Tony Clarkin. The couple have known each other since childhood through their parents, and have two sons, James and Thomas. In an interview with the "Daily Mirror", Carty explained how he first met Clarkin when she was a 5-year-old child actress and he a 14-year-old, through their parents. Carty describes Dina as his soul mate.


title: Zanskar

text: Zanskar, Zahar (locally) or Zangskar, is a tehsil of Kargil district, in the Indian union territory of Ladakh. The administrative centre is Padum (former Capital of Zanskar). Zanskar, together with the neighboring region of Ladakh, was briefly a part of the kingdom of Guge in Western Tibet. Zanskar lies 250 km south of Kargil town on NH301.


title: Zanskar

text: The Zanskar Range is a mountain range in the union territory of Ladakh that separates the Zanskar valley from Indus valley at Leh. Geologically, the Zanskar Range is part of the Tethys Himalaya, an approximately 100-km-wide synclinorium formed by strongly folded and imbricated, weakly metamorphosed sedimentary series. The average height of the Zanskar Range is about 6,000 m (19,700 ft). Its eastern part is known as Rupshu. The Zanskar had a population of approximately 20,000 in 2020. There has been demands to convert Zanskar into a district.


title: Zanskar

text: Zanskar ( "zangs dkar") appears as "“Zangskar”" mostly in academic studies in social sciences (anthropology, gender studies), reflecting the Ladakhi pronunciation, although the Zanskari pronunciation is Zãhar. Older geographical accounts and maps may use the alternate spelling "Zaskar". An etymological study (Snellgrove and Skorupsky, 1980) of the name reveals that its origin might refer to the natural occurrence of copper in this region, the Tibetan word for which is "Zangs". The second syllable however seems to be more challenging as it has various meanings: "Zangs-dkar" (white copper), "Zangs-mkhar" (copper palace), or "Zangs-skar" (copper star). Others claim it derives from "zan" = copper + "skar" = valley. Crook (1994) partly shares this interpretation but suggests that the origin of this name might also be "Zan-mKhar" (food palace), because the staple food crops are so abundant in an otherwise rather arid region. The locally accepted spelling of the name in Tibetan script is zangs-dkar.


title: Zanskar

text: Some of the religious scholars of the district, also cited by Snellgrove and Skorupsky (1980) and Crook (1994), hold that it was originally "bzang-dkar", meaning good (or beautiful) and white. "Good" would refer to the triangular shape of the Padum plain, the triangle being the symbol of Dharma and religion; "white" would refer to the simplicity, goodness, and religious inclinations of the Zanskaris. Thus, even if etymologically it would be more correct to use "Zangskar", the most frequently found spelling for this region is undoubtedly "Zanskar".


title: Zanskar

text: The first traces of human activity in Zanskar seem to go back as far as the Bronze Age. Petroglyphs attributed to that period suggest that their creators were hunters on the steppes of central Asia, living between Kazakhstan and China. It is suspected that an Indo-European population known as the Mon might then have lived in this region, before mixing with or being replaced by the next settlers, the Dards. Early Buddhism coming from Kashmir spread its influence in Zanskar, possibly as early as 200 BC. The earliest monuments date from the Kushan period. After this eastward propagation of Buddhism, Zanskar and large parts of the Western Himalaya were overrun in the 7th century by the Tibetans, who imposed their then animistic Bön religion.


title: Zanskar

text: Buddhism regained its influence over Zanskar in the 8th century when Tibet was also converted to this religion. Between the 10th and 11th centuries, two Royal Houses were founded in Zanskar, and the monasteries of Karsha and Phugtal (see picture) were built. Until the 15th century Zanskar existed as a more or less independent Buddhist Kingdom ruled by between two and four related royal families. Since the 15th century, Zanskar has been subordinate to Ladakh, sharing its fortunes and misfortunes. In 1822 a coalition of Kulu, Lahoul, and Kinnaur invaded Zanskar, plundering the country and destroying the Royal palace at Padum.


title: Zanskar

text: In the mid-20th century, border conflicts between India, Pakistan and China caused Ladakh and Zanskar to be closed to foreigners. During these wars Ladakh lost two thirds of its original territory, losing Baltistan to Pakistan and the Aksai Chin to China. Ladakh and Zanskar, despite a tumultuous history of internal wars and external aggressions, have never lost their cultural and religious heritage since the 8th century. Thanks to its adherence to the Indian Union, this is also one of the rare regions in the Himalaya where traditional Tibetan culture, society, and buildings survived the Chinese Cultural Revolution. In the last twenty years, the opening of a road and the massive influx of tourists and researchers have brought many changes to the traditional social organisation of Zanskar. In 2007 the valley suffered its third year of a desert locust infestation with many villages losing their crops. The response of the monasteries was to carry out Puja ( prayer ) to get rid of them while the government was advocating the use of insecticides which the Buddhists were reluctant to use, but in some cases were forced to try with as yet undocumented success. In 2008 it was reported that the Locusts had left the central Zanskar plains.


title: Zanskar

text: People of Zanskar have been demanding to be in new district, separate from the existing Kargil district, for more than 70 years.


title: Zanskar

text: The Zanskar Range is spread over a vast area from southeastern boundaries of the state of Kashmir and extends in the northwest direction to the eastern limits of Baltistan. It separates Ladakh from the valleys of Kashmir and the Chenab River. In other words, it serves as a boundary line between Ladakh region of Kashmir and the remaining two regions of the state i.e. Jammu region and Vale of Kashmir. The high peak Nunkun is within this range. Marbal Pass and many other passes which connect Ladakh with Kashmir are in this area, high Zojila Pass is in the extreme northwest of Zanskar range. This range, in fact is a branch of the great Himalayan range of mountains. Many rivers start in different branches of this range flow northward, and join the great Indus River. These rivers include Hanle River, Khurna River, Zanskar River, Suru River (Indus), and Shingo River. It also separates Kinnaur from Spiti in Himachal Pradesh. The highest peaks of Himachal are in Zanskar range.


title: Zanskar

text: Zanskar covers an area of some , at an elevation of 3,500-7,135 metres (11,500–23,409 feet). It consists of the country lying along the two main branches of the Zanskar River. The first, the Doda River, has its source near the Pensi La mountain-pass, and then flows south-eastwards along the main valley leading towards Padum, the capital of Zanskar.


title: Zanskar

text: The second branch is formed by two main tributaries known as Kargyag river (also known as Kurgiakh river), with its source near the Shingo La , and Tsarap River, with its source near the Baralacha-La. These two rivers unite below the village of Purney to form the Lungnak river (also known as the Lingti or Tsarap river). The Lungnak river then flows north-westwards along a narrow gorge towards Zanskar's central valley (known locally as jung-khor), where it unites with the Doda river to form the Zanskar river.


title: Zanskar

text: The Zanskar river then takes a north-eastern course until it joins the Indus in Ladakh. High mountain ridges lie on both sides of the Doda and Lingti–kargyag valleys, which run north-west to south-east. To the south-west is the Great Himalayan Range which separates Zanskar from the Kisthwar and Chamba basins. To the north-east lies the Zanskar Range, which separates Zanskar from Ladakh. The only outlet for the whole Zanskar hydrographic system is thus the Zanskar river, which cuts the deep and narrow Zanskar Gorge through the Zanskar range.


title: Zanskar

text: The Zanskar range spans from the Karcha (Suru) River to the upper Karnali River. Kamet Peak is the highest point in the range.


title: Zanskar

text: These topographical features explain why access to Zanskar is difficult from all sides. Communication with the neighbouring Himalayan areas is maintained across mountain passes or along the Zanskar river when frozen. The easiest approach leads from Kargil through the Suru valley and over the Penzi-La. It is along this track that in 1979 the only road in Zanskar was built to connect Padum with the main road from Srinagar into Ladakh. One of the first Tibetologists to spend an extended period in the region was Hungarian scholar Sándor Csoma de Kőrös who spent over a year living in the region in 1823. After being integrated into the newly formed state of India in 1947, Zanskar and the neighbouring region of Ladakh were both declared restricted areas and only opened to foreigners in 1974.


title: Zanskar

text: Zanskar is a high altitude semi-desert lying on the northern flank of the Himalayan Range. This mountain range acts as a barrier protecting Ladakh and Zanskar from most of the monsoon, resulting in a pleasantly warm and dry climate in the summer. Rain and snowfall during this period are scarce, although recent decades have shown a trend towards increasing precipitation. Several water-driven mills were built during ancient periods of drought at a great distance from the villages, but have been abandoned because running water is now available nearer to the settlements. Zanskari houses, though otherwise well built, are not adapted to the recently increasing rainfall, as their roofs leak, catching their surprised inhabitants unprepared. Most of the precipitation occurs as snowfall during the harsh and extremely long winter period. These winter snowfalls are of vital importance, since they feed the glaciers which melt in the summer and provide most of the irrigation water. Parts of Zanskar valley are considered some of the coldest continually inhabited places in the world.


title: Zanskar

text: Zanskar's population is small, the April 2006 medical census records a population of 13,849 people. The medical census is the most accurate indicator of population as it collects birth, death, and census information from Zangskar's 22 medical aid centers. Roughly 95% of the inhabitants practice Tibetan Buddhism, while the remainder are Sunni Muslims, whose ancestors settled in Padum and its environs in the 19th century. The majority of Zanskaris are of mixed Tibetan and Indo-European origins; notably Changpa, Dard and Mon. The latter are in fact ethnically Dard, but "Mon" is used in order to distinguish them from later Dard settlers.


title: Zanskar

text: The population lives mainly in scattered small villages, the largest being the capital Padum, with nearly 700 inhabitants. Most of the villages are located in the valleys of the Zanskar river and its two main tributaries. Given the isolation of this region, the inhabitants tend towards self-sufficiency, and until recently lived in almost complete autarky. External trade has, however, always been necessary for the acquisition of goods such as tools, jewellery, or religious artefacts.


title: Zanskar

text: The Zanskaris' main occupations are cattle-rearing and farming of land that they almost always own. Cultivable land is scarce, and restricted to alluvial fans and terraces, cultivated fields being rarely found above an altitude of 4,000 metres. The Zanskaris have developed a system of intensive arable agriculture and complex irrigation to produce enough food in these conditions. The scarcity of cultivable land has also resulted in a tendency towards a stable, zero-growth population. An efficient birth-control system in Zanskar has historically been achieved by the common practice of polyandrous marriage, in which several brothers are married to the same wife, and the widespread adoption of a celibate religious life. A high infant mortality rate also contributes to population stability.


title: Zanskar

text: In the summer, the women and children stay far away from the villages to tend to the livestock. This system, known as transhumance, is similar to the one found in the Alps where the animals are sent during the summer higher up in the mountains (the alpine meadows) and were kept by the children and women.


title: Zanskar

text: Much of Zanskar's vegetation is found in the irrigated villages, and on the upper slopes which receive more precipitation and where it consists of alpine and tundra species. Most impressive are the meadows covered with thousands of edelweiss. At the foot of the Gumburanjon mountain blue poppies can be found. Crops including barley, lentils, and potatoes are grown by farmers at the lower elevations. Domesticated animals such as the yak, dzo, sheep, horse, and dog are found in the region.


title: Zanskar

text: Among the wildlife found in Zanskar are the marmot, bear, wolf, snow leopard, bharal, alpine ibex, gray goral, and the lammergeier.


title: Zanskar

text: A very overwhelming majority of Zanskar is Buddhist. Almost every village has a local monastery, often containing ancient wall-paintings and images. There are two main branches of Tibetan Buddhism here — the Drugpa, including Sani Monastery, Dzongkhul, Stagrimo and Bardan Monastery - all loosely affiliated with Stakna in the Indus valley. The Gelugpa control Rangdum Monastery, Karsha, Stongde and Phugtal Monastery, which all pay allegiance to the Ngari Rinpoche, who has his main seat at Likir Monastery in Ladakh. The present emanation of the Ngari Rinpoche is the younger brother of the Dalai Lama.


title: Zanskar

text: People living in Zanskar speak Zanskari language of the Ladakhi-Balti language group. It is written using the Tibetan script. Monks who have studied outside of Zanskar may know Standard Tibetan. Educated people of Zanskar know English as it is a compulsory subject in Indian schools.


title: Zanskar

text: In 2010, the American film director Frederick Marx made a documentary called "Journey from Zanskar". Narrated by Richard Gere, the film tells the story of two monks helping 17 poor children reaching Tibetan schools in India through a difficult and dangerous travel.


title: Zanskar

text: Livestock, and especially the yak, is of paramount importance in Zanskar. Yaks are used to plough the land, to thresh the grain, to carry heavy loads (up to 200 kilograms), and their dung not only serves as fertiliser but is also the only heating fuel available in the region. They are a vital source of milk and sometimes, but rarely, of meat. The yak's fur is used to make clothes, carpets, ropes, and bed covers.


title: Zanskar

text: Tourism is probably the major disruption that Zanskar has experienced during recent times. The opening of this region to foreigners has brought changes such as the financing of schools and the restoration of monasteries and roads, but has also taken its toll on this fragile mountain environment and its population.


title: Zanskar

text: The first colour film of life in Zanskar was shot in 1958 by an expedition of three British housewives.