title: Tetsuya Naito

text: In May 2008, Yujiro and Tetsuya underwent a five-match series with some of New Japan's top tag teams, dubbed "No Limit Generation Smash", held in the various Zepp clubs across Japan. The teams included Jado and Gedo, Togi Makabe and Toru Yano, Wataru Inoue and Koji Kanemoto, Shinsuke Nakamura and Hirooki Goto, and Yuji Nagata and Manabu Nakanishi. No Limit lost all five matches. A special sixth match in the series took place in Zero1 on May 29, 2008, Yujiro and Tetsuya defeated Zero1's Osamu Namiguchi and Shito Ueda. In June 2008, Yujiro entered the Best of the Super Juniors tournament, going winless in his first four matches before defeating Minoru in his final bout to finish with two points. The following month, Tetsuya and Yujiro participated in a single-elimination tournament to decide the new holder of the recently vacated IWGP Junior Heavyweight title. Naito lost to Yujiro in the first round of the tournament. On October 13, 2008, at Destruction '08 Yujiro and Tetsuya defeated Devitt and Minoru to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. On January 4, 2009, at Wrestle Kingdom III in Tokyo Dome The Motor City Machine Guns of Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin defeated them to win the tag team title.


title: Tetsuya Naito

text: Shortly after losing the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Yujiro and Tetsuya traveled to North America for a "developmental tour", something often done with young Japanese wrestlers to expose them to other styles of wrestling and help them develop into better wrestlers. No Limit worked mainly for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), while also making an appearance for both Team 3D's wrestling academy and Jersey All Pro Wrestling, although Naito wasn't able to wrestle in JAPW due to an injury and was replaced by the team's TNA ally Sheik Abdul Bashir. Yujiro and Naito worked for TNA approximately two months, receiving another unsuccessful shot at the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. No Limit's final appearance for TNA was a handicap match on the May 14, 2009, edition of "Impact!" against Kevin Nash, which the team lost.


title: Tetsuya Naito

text: No Limit made their debut for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) in Mexico City, Mexico on May 29, 2009 teaming with Dos Caras Jr. to defeat Héctor Garza, La Sombra and Volador Jr. No Limit were presented as "Anti-Mexican" heels ("bad guys") and soon began teaming with Okumura under the team name "La Ola Amarilla" (Spanish for "The Yellow Wave"), in matches against Mexicans.


title: Tetsuya Naito

text: On July 10, 2009 No Limit teamed with Black Warrior to defeat the team of Héctor Garza, Toscano and El Sagrado, After the match Black Warrior made a challenge on behalf of Yujiro (as Yujiro does not speak Spanish) for a "hair vs. hair" match with Garza. This led to all men being involved in a 15-man steel cage "Luchas de Apuestas" match at "Infierno en el Ring" that Tetsuya won by pinning Toscano, forcing him to have his hair shaved off. Following the match No Limit's focus was on Black Warrior, who had turned on them during the cage match. When Jyushin Thunder Liger toured Mexico in September, 2009 he joined the "Anti-Mexico" faction, teaming with No Limit and Okumura to defeat Team Mexico (Último Guerrero, Atlantis, Black Warrior and Héctor Garza) at the CMLL 76th Anniversary Show on September 18, 2009. The following week Yujio teamed with Okumura to win the 2009 Gran Alternativa tournament, defeating Toscano and Rouge in the first round, Héctor Garza and Ángel de Plata in the second round and Místico and Ángel de Oro in the finals. The storyline feud between No Limit and Black Warrior reached its conclusion on October 16, 2009 as Black Warrior faced Yujiro in a "Lucha de Apuesta", hair vs. hair match that Yujiro won two falls to one, forcing Black Warrior to have his hair shaved off after the match.


title: Tetsuya Naito

text: After the storyline with Black Warrior ended, No Limit began working with the team of El Texano Jr. and El Terrible in a feud that led to a "Lucha de Apuesta" hair vs. hair match between the two teams that was the main event of CMLL's "Sin Salida" show on December 4, 2009. After being successful throughout the summer and fall No Limit finally lost to Texano Jr. and Terrible at "Sin Salida" and were both shaved completely bald after the match per Lucha Libre traditions. While Yujiro has not returned to CMLL since their return to NJPW on January 4, 2010 Naito returned in January and has stated that he would like to work in Mexico between NJPW tours. Naito teamed up with Okumura and is expected to team up with Taichi, a NJPW rookie who will be travelling to Mexico to gain experience.


title: Tetsuya Naito

text: On December 5, 2009, NJPW announced that Yujiro and Naito were returning to Japan as part of their annual January 4 Tokyo Dome show called Wrestle Kingdom IV in Tokyo Dome. At the event Yujiro and Naito defeated Team 3D (Brother Ray and Brother Devon) and Bad Intentions (Giant Bernard and Karl Anderson) in a three-way hardcore match to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship. No Limit had their first title defense on February 14, 2010, defeating El Texano Jr. and El Terrible to retain the title. On April 4 at "New Dimension" No Limit joined New Japan's top heel stable Chaos, led by the IWGP Heavyweight Champion Shinsuke Nakamura. On May 3, 2010, at Wrestling Dontaku 2010 Naito and Takahashi lost the IWGP Tag Team Championship to Yuji Nagata and Wataru Inoue of Seigigun in a three-way match, which also included Bad Intentions (Giant Bernard and Karl Anderson).


title: Tetsuya Naito

text: After losing the title, Tetsuya began breaking out on his own, scoring pinfall victories over the reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion Togi Makabe, IWGP Tag Team Champion Karl Anderson and former IWGP Heavyweight Champion Manabu Nakanishi and wrestling four-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi to a 30-minute time limit draw during the 2010 G1 Climax tournament, while also having another strong showing against Tanahashi in a losing effort at Destruction '10 on October 11. On October 24 No Limit entered the 2010 G1 Tag League. After three wins and two losses, they finished first in their block and advanced to the semifinals. On November 7, after defeating Manabu Nakanishi and Strong Man in the semifinals, No Limit was defeated in the finals of the tournament by Yuji Nagata and Wataru Inoue. On December 11, 2010, No Limit picked up a major win by defeating the TNA World Tag Team Champions, The Motor City Machine Guns, in a non–title match. On January 4, 2011, at Wrestle Kingdom V in Tokyo Dome, Naito unsuccessfully challenged Jeff Hardy for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. On May 3, No Limit failed in their attempt to regain the IWGP Tag Team Championship from Bad Intentions. After the match Takahashi walked out on Naito.


title: Tetsuya Naito

text: In May 2011 Naito took part in New Japan's first tour of the United States, the Invasion Tour 2011. On May 13 in Rahway, New Jersey, he entered the tournament to determine the first ever IWGP Intercontinental Champion, defeating local worker Josh Daniels in his first round match. The following day in New York City, Naito was eliminated from the tournament in the semifinal stage by MVP. Upon their return to Japan, Takahashi turned on Naito on May 26, effectively dissolving No Limit and turning Naito face.


title: Tetsuya Naito

text: On June 18 at Dominion 6.18, Takahashi defeated Tetsuya in the first match between the former members of No Limit. On June 28, Naito returned to CMLL for a one-month stint. Upon his return to Japan, Naito faced Takahashi during the first day of the 2011 G1 Climax, with Takahashi once again emerging victorious. Naito then went on to win six out of his eight remaining matches, including picking up big wins over Giant Bernard, Yoshihiro Takayama and IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi, to win his block and advance to the finals of the 2011 G1 Climax. However, in the end, Naito failed to win the tournament as he was defeated in the finals by Shinsuke Nakamura. On September 19, Naito defeated Takahashi in the third singles match between the two, after which he made an official challenge towards Hiroshi Tanahashi and the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. On October 10 at Destruction '11, Naito failed in his attempt to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship from Tanahashi.


title: Tetsuya Naito

text: On January 4, 2012, at Wrestle Kingdom VI in Tokyo Dome, Naito faced All Japan Pro Wrestling's Keiji Mutoh in a losing effort. From late 2011 to early 2012, Naito was involved in a feud with Shinsuke Nakamura, which built to a singles match on February 12 at The New Beginning, where Naito was victorious and in the process became the number one contender to new IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada. Naito received his title opportunity on March 4 in the main event of New Japan's 40th anniversary event, but was defeated by Okada. During the next months, Naito began having problems with Hiroshi Tanahashi, after he was chosen over Naito as the next challenger for Okada. In August, Naito took part in the 2012 G1 Climax tournament, during which he picked up a big win over Kazuchika Okada. However, a loss to Hirooki Goto on the final day of the tournament meant that Okada managed to overtake him in the standings, causing him to get eliminated from the tournament. Despite suffering a legitimate knee injury during the tournament, Naito continued wrestling regularly afterwards. On October 8 at King of Pro-Wrestling, Naito was defeated by Yujiro Takahashi, when the referee ended the match due to Takahashi punishing Naito's injured knee. Following the match, Naito was stretchered out of the arena. Naito underwent reconstructive knee surgery on October 16 and was expected to miss eight months of in-ring action.


title: Tetsuya Naito

text: On May 3, 2013, Naito made an appearance at New Japan's Wrestling Dontaku 2013 event, announcing that he would be returning to the ring on June 22, while also naming the NEVER Openweight Championship, held by Masato Tanaka, as his goal. On June 22 at Dominion 6.22, Naito defeated Takahashi in his return match. On July 20, Naito failed in his attempt to capture the NEVER Openweight Championship from Tanaka. From August 1 to 11, Naito took part in the 2013 G1 Climax. Finishing with a record of five wins and four losses, Naito clinched the number one spot in his block and advanced to the finals after a win over Karl Anderson on the final day. In the finals, Naito defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi to win the 2013 G1 Climax and earn a shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Naito, however, announced that he first wanted a rematch with Masato Tanaka for the NEVER Openweight Championship. The following day, Naito was given a contract, which granted him a shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship on January 4, 2014, at the Tokyo Dome. On September 29 at Destruction, Naito defeated Masato Tanaka to not only retain the contract, but to also win the NEVER Openweight Championship. On October 14 at King of Pro-Wrestling, Naito successfully defended both the title and the contract against Yujiro Takahashi. On November 9 at Power Struggle, Naito defeated Masato Tanaka to retain the NEVER Openweight Championship and solidify his spot in the main event of the January 4 Tokyo Dome show. Naito and reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada faced off on November 23 during the first day of the 2013 World Tag League in a match, where Naito and Mexican wrestler La Sombra were defeated by Okada and Yoshi-Hashi. Naito and La Sombra finished the tournament on December 6 with a record of three wins and three losses, failing to advance from their block. Following a disappointing fan reaction to a confrontation between Naito and Okada, New Japan announced that fans would get to vote whether they or Shinsuke Nakamura and Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship would be the true main event of the Tokyo Dome show. When the results were released on December 9, Naito and Okada had gotten only half the votes Nakamura and Tanahashi had gotten and, as a result, lost their main event spot for New Japan's biggest show of the year. On January 4, 2014, at Wrestle Kingdom 8 in Tokyo Dome, Naito failed in his title challenge against Okada. The following day, Naito entered a new feud with Tomohiro Ishii, who announced his intention of becoming the next NEVER Openweight Champion. On February 11 at The New Beginning in Osaka, Naito lost the NEVER Openweight Championship to Ishii in his third title defense.


title: Tetsuya Naito

text: From July 21 to August 8, Naito took part in the 2014 G1 Climax, where he finished fifth in his block with a record of five wins and five losses. On October 13 at King of Pro-Wrestling, Naito unsuccessfully challenged Okada, whom he had defeated during the G1 Climax, for his IWGP Heavyweight Championship number one contender's contract. The following month, Naito reunited with La Sombra for the 2014 World Tag League. The team finished in the middle of their block with a record of four wins and three losses. In May 2015, Naito took part in the NJPW/Ring of Honor (ROH) co-produced tour of United States and Canada, during which he unsuccessfully challenged Jay Lethal for the ROH World Television Championship at Global Wars '15.


title: Tetsuya Naito

text: While the rest of NJPW workers returned to Japan, Naito remained in North America, returning to Mexico and CMLL for a tour, during which he continued teaming with La Sombra as part of his "Los Ingobernables" stable. His tour culminated with him and La Sombra unsuccessfully challenging Negro Casas and Shocker for the CMLL World Tag Team Championship on June 21. Naito returned to NJPW the following week with a new look and persona, while also announcing that he now represented "Los Ingobernables" also in NJPW. From July 20 to August 14, Naito took part in the 2015 G1 Climax. Despite big early wins over A.J. Styles and eventual tournament winner Hiroshi Tanahashi, Naito finished third in his block with a record of five wins and four losses and thus failed to advance to the finals. On October 12 at King of Pro-Wrestling, Naito unsuccessfully challenged 2015 G1 Climax winner Hiroshi Tanahashi for his IWGP Heavyweight Championship contract. During the match, the returning Takaaki Watanabe was revealed as Naito's new partner, but his outside interference was stopped by Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata. Shortly afterwards, Naito and Watanabe, now dubbed "Evil", were joined by Bushi to form the "Los Ingobernables de Japón" stable. In December, Naito and Evil won their block in the 2015 World Tag League with a record of five wins and one loss, advancing to the finals of the tournament. On December 9, Naito and Evil were defeated in the finals by Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma.


title: Tetsuya Naito

text: On January 4, 2016, at Wrestle Kingdom 10 in Tokyo Dome, Naito was defeated by Hirooki Goto, with whom "Los Ingobernables de Japón" had been feuding since the previous October. Naito avenged the loss on March 12 by defeating Goto in the finals to win the 2016 New Japan Cup. On April 10 at Invasion Attack 2016, Naito defeated Kazuchika Okada with help from his "Los Ingobernables de Japón" stablemates Bushi, Evil and the debuting Sanada to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship for the first time. Naito made his first successful title defense on May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2016 against Tomohiro Ishii. On June 19 at Dominion 6.19 in Osaka-jo Hall, Naito lost the IWGP Heavyweight Championship back to Kazuchika Okada. From July 22 to August 13, Naito took part in the 2016 G1 Climax, where he finished second in his block with a record of six wins and three losses. Naito finished tied with block winner Kenny Omega on points, but failed to advance to the finals due to losing to Omega in their head-to-head match on the final day. On September 25 at Destruction in Kobe, Naito defeated Michael Elgin to win the IWGP Intercontinental Championship for the first time. He made his first successful title defense on November 5 at Power Struggle against Jay Lethal. Naito then took part in the 2016 World Tag League, where he and "Los Ingobernables" member Rush finished with a record of four wins and three losses, failing to advance to the finals due to losing to block winners Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa in their final round-robin match.


title: Tetsuya Naito

text: On December 14, "Tokyo Sports" named Naito the 2016 MVP in all of Japanese professional wrestling, marking the first time since 2010 that the award was not won by either Hiroshi Tanahashi or Kazuchika Okada. Naito won the award decidedly in the first round of voting, garnering 18 of 21 votes to beat Okada and Kenny Omega. On January 4, 2017, at Wrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome, Naito successfully defended the IWGP Intercontinental Championship against Hiroshi Tanahashi, which he followed up with another successful title defense against Michael Elgin on February 11 at The New Beginning in Osaka. On April 29 at Wrestling Toyonokuni 2017, Naito retained the IWGP Intercontinental Championship against Juice Robinson, after which he was challenged by Hiroshi Tanahashi. Naito's reign ended on June 11 at Dominion 6.11 in Osaka-jo Hall, where he was defeated by Hiroshi Tanahashi. On July 1 at G1 Special in USA, Naito took part in a tournament to determine the inaugural IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion, but was eliminated in his first round match by Tomohiro Ishii.


title: Tetsuya Naito

text: The following month, Naito won his block in the 2017 G1 Climax with a record of seven wins and two losses, advancing to the finals of the tournament. On August 13, Naito defeated Kenny Omega in the finals to win his second G1 Climax. On October 9 at King of Pro-Wrestling, Naito defeated Tomohiro Ishii to ensure his spot in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 12. On December 14, Naito became the fifth wrestler to win consecutive MVP Awards from "Tokyo Sports". On January 4, 2018, Naito was defeated by Okada in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 12. The following night, at New Year Dash!! 2018, Naito was attacked by Chris Jericho.


title: Tetsuya Naito

text: On April 29, 2018 at Wrestling Hinokuni, Naito defeated IWGP Intercontinental Champion Minoru Suzuki to win the title for a second time. After a 5-man tag match against Suzuki-gun at Wrestling Dontaku, Naito was again attacked by Chris Jericho, setting up their anticipated match at Dominion. On June 9, 2018 at Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall, Jericho defeated Naito to win the IWGP Intercontinental Championship ending Naito's reign at 41 days with 0 successful defenses. The following month, Naito took part in the 2018 G1 Climax, where he finished fourth in his block with a record of six wins and three losses. At Destruction in Beppu, Naito once again defeated Minoru Suzuki in a singles match. At Power Struggle, Naito first defeated Zack Sabre Jr., and then saved his stablemate Evil from an ambush by Jericho. Their rematch was set on Wrestle Kingdom 13.


title: Tetsuya Naito

text: At the event, Naito defeated Jericho to win the IWGP Intercontinental Championship for the third time. At New Year Dash, Suzuki-gun attacked "Los Ingobernables de Japón" and Taichi challenged Naito to a match for the title. At The New Beginning in Sapporo, Naito retained his title. Naito was announced to take part in 2019 New Japan Cup and faced Kota Ibushi in the first round, but lost. This led to a title match at G1 Supercard, where Naito was defeated by Ibushi. At Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall, Naito regained the IWGP Intercontinental Championship from Ibushi.


title: Tetsuya Naito

text: Naito participated in the 2019 G1 Climax, in which he finished 2nd, with a 5-4 record, losing in the final match of the B block to the man who would go on to win the block, Jay White. Naito's loss to White led to a match between them at Destruction in Kobe, in which Naito lost the IWGP Intercontinental Championship in the night's main event. At Power Struggle, Naito came out to confront Jay White and propose a match between them at Wrestle Kingdom 14 for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship, also expressing his desire to be the first man to hold both the IWGP Intercontinental Championship and the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at the same time. White proceeded to call out both IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada, and G1 Climax 29 winner Kota Ibushi. During a heated argument; Ibushi, Naito, and White conveyed their wish to be the first "Dual Champion," while Okada said that he only cared about the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. A vote was set up for fans, where they decided for a match for both championships at Wrestle Kingdom 14, which was dubbed the "Double Gold Dash". During the first night of Wrestle Kingdom 14 on January 4, 2020, Naito defeated White to win the Intercontinental Championship, before going on to defeat Okada the following night to win the Heavyweight Championship, becoming the first person to hold both championships simultaneously. After the match, Naito was attacked by Kenta. A match between Naito and Kenta was set up for The New Beginning in Osaka where both championships would be defended; Naito emerged as the victor.


title: Tetsuya Naito

text: On July 11, Naito came down to the ring to celebrate Evil's New Japan Cup win but would instead be attacked by his stablemate. Evil was eventually joined by members of the Bullet Club, establishing himself as a heel and defecting from "Los Ingobernables de Japon" for the Bullet Club. At Dominion in Osaka-jo Hall on July 12, Naito lost both championships to Evil, ending his reigns at 188 and 189 days respectively. However, Naito would win back both titles at Summer Struggle in Jingu, making him a three-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion and a record six-time IWGP Intercontinental Champion. From September to October, Naito competed in the 2020 G1 Climax in the B Block, but did not win, and finished with 12 points (six wins and three losses). At Power Struggle on November 7, Naito defeated Evil once again to retain the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championships. During the first night of Wrestle Kingdom 15 on January 4, 2021, Naito lost the championships to Ibushi, thus ending both his reigns at 128 days and with one title defense. At Castle Attack on February 28, Naito faced Ibushi for the Intercontinental Championship, but was defeated.


title: Tetsuya Naito

text: On July 11, 2021 at Summer Struggle in Sapporo, Naito teamed up with "Los Ingobernables de Japón" stablesmate Sanada and defeated Dangerous Tekkers (Taichi and Zack Sabre Jr.) to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship, marking Naito's first tag title reign since No Limit held the title in 2010. However, they lost the titles at Wrestle Grand Slam in Tokyo Dome back to Dangerous Tekkers, ending their reign at just 14 days. Naito returned to singles competition in September, where he competed in the G1 Climax 30 tournament. However, in his opening match against Zack Sabre Jr, which he lost, Naito suffered a knee injury and was forced to forfeit the tournament. Naito returned 2 months later, to team with Sanada once again in the World Tag League, the team finished with 16 points, but losses to Dangerous Tekkers and EVIL and Yujiro Takahashi, who also finished with 16 points, stopped them advancing to the finals. At Wrestle Kingdom 16, Los Ingobernables de Japon lost to United Empire in a six-man tag-team match on Night 1, however Naito defeated Jeff Cobb on Night 2.


title: Tetsuya Naito

text: Naito was the first challenger for new IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada's championship, but was defeated at NJPW New Years Golden Series Naito competed in the New Japan Cup in March, defeating the likes of Hiroshi Tanahashi and Jeff Cobb to make it to the semi-finals. In the semi-finals Naito defeated Kazuchika Okada to advance to the finals, where he was defeated by Zack Sabre Jr. Naito received another World Championship match at Wrestling Dontaku, but was once again defeated by Okada. Also Dominion 6.12 in Osaka-jo Hall, Naito was announced to be apart of the G1 Climax 32 tournament in July, where he would compete in the C Block. He finished with 8 points, defeating Zack Sabre Jr on the final block match day to advance to the semi-finals. In the semi-finals, Naito lost to D Block winner Will Ospreay ending his G1 campaign.


title: Tetsuya Naito

text: Naito was previously a babyface dubbed the "Stardust Genius". But after winning the 2013 G1 Climax, fans immediately rejected his main-event push and his babyface character felt flat. This would go on for the next two years until he decided to join Los Ingobernables in May 2015 during a tour with CMLL. When Naito returned in June, he drastically developed an unlikable attitude and became indifferent against the fans for turning on him. This change improved the fan reception and established Naito as one of New Japan's premiere main-eventers.


title: Tetsuya Naito

text: Naito finishing move is the "Destino", a backflip inverted DDT; he previously used a corkscrew moonsault called the "Stardust Press" in 2008 to 2015 during his time as a face.


title: Tetsuya Naito

text: Naito is a fan of the Hiroshima Toyo Carp baseball team and has throughout his career wrestled in red, which is the team's main color, and the team's fans have been known to sing his wrestling theme song as a chant for Hiroshima. Having been born in Tokyo, Naito originally supported the local Yomiuri Giants, but switched teams in the 1990s following Tatsunori Hara's retirement. In 2017, Naito collaborated with Hiroshima Toyo Carp for a shirt.


title: Tetsuya Naito

text: Naito's signature taunt, where he widens his eye with his thumb and index finger is known as "Abre los Ojos" ("Open Your Eyes"). Naito came up with the taunt in 2009 during his Mexican excursion, where local fans hurled racially-charged taunts at him for his narrow eyes. The taunt has since also been used by, among others, baseball player Shinnosuke Ogasawara and Yuki Kashiwagi of idol group AKB48.


title: Just for Laughs

text: Just for Laughs () is a comedy festival held each July in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1983, it is the largest international comedy festival in the world. It also serves as a television division.


title: Just for Laughs

text: Just for Laughs was formed in 1983 as a two-day French-language event. In 1985, Andy Nulman joined the festival's staff and introduced English-language events as well; under Nulman's stewardship, the festival increased to a full month, with French-speaking performers during the first half, and English speakers in the second half. International and non-verbal acts (acrobats, pantomimes, etc.) are scattered throughout the program.


title: Just for Laughs

text: In 1999, Nulman left the festival's full-time employ; however, he directed its major Gala Shows at the Saint-Denis Theatre every July, and remained on the board of directors of the festival's parent company. After an 11-year absence, Nulman returned to Just for Laughs in July 2010 as president of Festivals and Television.


title: Just for Laughs

text: Each day, performers, "New Vaudevillians" and other acts both vocal and visual perform throughout the city, particularly in the "Latin Quarter"—an area known for its theatres, cafés and boutique shopping. In the evenings, the nightclubs and live venue theatres offer special programs supporting the performers.


title: Just for Laughs

text: Although Just For Laughs attracts spectators from around the world, many of those in the audience are talent scouts, booking agents, producers, and managers from the entertainment industry. Performing at the festival is one of the biggest opportunities for undiscovered talent to showcase their act in front of industry professionals.


title: Just for Laughs

text: The Just For Laughs festival also has the Comedia comedy film festival component, which started in 1996. It gives awards for feature and short films. In 2005, Comedia screened 125 short films from around the world as well as several feature-length films.


title: Just for Laughs

text: In February 1994, the festival sponsored a splinter project in Hollywood, Florida. That coastal area is a favourite winter destination for Quebecers who head south to vacation in the warmer weather. The event, Juste Pour Rire—En Vacances (Just For Laughs—On Vacation), was held in the Young Circle Park, an outdoor venue with an urban park setting.


title: Just for Laughs

text: On November 24, 2010, it was announced that they have to move the Just for Laughs galas to Place des Arts and that the 2011 festival in the Saint-Denis Theatre would be recycled due to budget cuts.


title: Just for Laughs

text: On April 1, 2019, Just For Laughs name went fully stylized to "J"ust for laughs. On April 3, 2020, it was announced that the 2020 edition of Just For Laughs would be postponed until the fall due to the coronavirus pandemic. It was scheduled to run from September 29 to October 11, 2020, however, on July 21, 2020, organizers reversed their decision and cancelled the event. To fill the gap, they choose for a series of virtual performances that will run online (via the Internet only), for two days, on October 9 and 10, 2020.


title: Just for Laughs

text: On October 18, 2017, festival president and founder Gilbert Rozon resigned from his position following allegations of sexual misconduct. Rozon later announced that he would sell the festival. As per a partnership with the conglomerate, Quebecor was given right of first refusal to counter competing offers. The company, however, declined. On March 21, 2018, it was announced that the entire company would be acquired by a partnership between U.S.-based talent agency ICM Partners and Ontario comedian Howie Mandel. In their announcement of the purchase, it was stated that Just for Laughs would remain based in Montreal (with Mandel considering the event to be a key component of local culture), and that there would be no changes in its management or operations. It was also stated that the partnership was seeking other local partners. Quebecor subsequently announced that it would become a "founding partner" of Le Grand Montréal Comédie Fest—a competing event (which lasted 2 years) that has been established by a group of Quebecois comedians as a competitor in the wake of the Rozon scandal.


title: Just for Laughs

text: In May 2018, "La Presse" reported that the partnership planned to sell a 51% stake in Just for Laughs to Bell Canada and Evenko (an event management company owned by the Montreal Canadiens' ownership group Groupe CH, in turn owned by the Molson family), so that the event would remain majority-owned by Canadian interests and remain eligible for government tax credits. On June 7, 2018, Just For Laughs confirmed that Bell Media and Groupe CH had acquired stakes in the festival.


title: Just for Laughs

text: In July 2022, Just for Laughs announced a line-up of 62 comedians that will be featured in the Montreal festival that will run from July 13 to 31st. This festival also marks the 40th anniversary of Just for Laughs.


title: Just for Laughs

text: Tapings from festival performances have been featured in Just for Laughs-branded television programs and specials, which have aired on channels such as CBC Television, Radio-Canada, The Comedy Network (including the original "Just for Laughs" series, as well as a new series that premiered in 2012, "Just for Laughs: All Access"), and TVA.


title: Just for Laughs

text: "Just For Laughs Australia" screens on the Ten Network in Australia and features highlights from the festival with an emphasis on Australian comedy performers.


title: Just for Laughs

text: The festival has also lent its name to a hidden camera comedy series, "", which has also been aired by various Canadian channels, and has been sold internationally.


title: Just for Laughs

text: In 2018, Radio-Canada and The Comedy Network (now called CTV Comedy Channel) briefly dropped all Just for Laughs programming, apparently caused by Gilbert Rozon allegations of sexual misconduct. TVA continued to air "Just for Laughs: Gags", but renamed "Les Gags". CBC Television still air "Just for Laughs: Gags" with no changes. Following the festival's subsequent ownership changes, CTV Comedy and other Bell Media channels have resumed airing festival programming.


title: Just for Laughs

text: Victor is the mascot and logo for the comedy festival Just for Laughs. It was designed by Vittorio Fiorucci of the Canadian Design Resource company.


title: Just for Laughs

text: The image was inspired by a monster that preys on Montreal. The logo can be seen across the world on posters, T-shirts, event site markers, costumes, and inflatables.


title: Just for Laughs

text: In 2005 the character was redesigned by animator Alan Best at the behest of advertising agency Cossette as part of a comprehensive graphic overhaul of the Just For Laughs brand.


title: Find Yourself

text: Find Yourself () is a 2020 Chinese television series starring Victoria Song, Song Weilong and Wang Yaoqing. The series airs on Hunan TV and Netflix starting January 26, 2020.


title: Find Yourself

text: He Fanxing (Victoria Song) - a director of administration at a design company - is relentlessly pursued by the company intern Yuan Song (Song Weilong). Despite him being much younger, she eventually agrees to enter into a relationship on the condition of a three-month secrecy because she is highly concerned about how her parents and others may view their large age gap. Facing problems in their relationship, mature and dependable Ye Luming (Wang Yaoqing) - CEO of an advertising agency - appears in her life under the guise of a relationship mentor. Yet, Ye Luming has a secret agenda - to win He Fanxing over from Yuan Song.


title: Find Yourself

text: The appearance of Ye Luming causes Yuan Song to feel insecure about his relationship with He Fanxing, which spurs the creation of misunderstandings between them. For He Fanxing, the choice between Yuan Song and Ye Luming is not merely about love, but also the expectation that she should uphold traditional relationship and marriage rules. As the misunderstanding between He Fanxing and Yuan Song worsens, Yuan Song attempts to reveal their relationship to the public at a masquerade ball, yet He Fanxing finds herself unable to accept this, and decides to break up with Yuan Song. To worsen her situation, her company faces the threat of acquisition by a rival design company Aijia, plunging her into a "mid-life" crisis.


title: Find Yourself

text: Unbeknownst to all, He Canyang (Zhang Yujian) - He Fanxing's brother - enters into a relationship with Cai Minmin (Yu Shuxin) - Ye Luming's niece and Yuan Song's schoolmate - which dramatically complicates the already complex situation between the characters. He Fanxing tries to start a relationship with Ye Luming, which becomes immediately viewed by others as a highly compatible couple. He Fanxing's father is diagnosed with early-stage dementia, which makes her increasingly impatient to get married and have children for the sake of her parents. She decides to make a more conscious attempt to fall in love with Ye Luming. He Fanxing and Ye Luming attends the birthday party of Steven's - chairman of Aijia - daughter. Yet, they unexpectedly run into Yuan Song, who is revealed as Steven's son.


title: Find Yourself

text: Eventually, He Fanxing finds that no matter how hard she tries to fall in love with Ye Luming, she is just unable to do so. Realising that his pursuit has become a lost cause, Ye Luming decides to end their relationship, and return to being friends. After breaking up, He Fanxing has become much clearer of what she wants in a relationship. Finding out that Yuan Song has gone to Suzhou with another girl to attend an architectural conference, He Fanxing abruptly rushes to follow him there, eventually reconciling and making their relationship public straight away. Yuan Song decides to study overseas, yet their relationship is not affected in any way because of the long distance. He Fanxing has also resigned from her job, instead opening a store and becoming a florist, finally achieving a sense of fulfilment in both her career and relationship.


title: Find Yourself

text: Filming took place in Shanghai and Suzhou. The series began filming in September 2018, and wrapped up in November 2018.


title: All These Things That I've Done

text: "All These Things That I've Done" is a song by American rock band the Killers. The song was released as the third single from the band's debut studio album, "Hot Fuss" (2004), on August 30, 2004. It was written by frontman Brandon Flowers and features gospel choir The Sweet Inspirations. The song is about television host Matt Pinfield, and his work with the U.S. Army, as part of a program that mentored wounded/PTSD-stricken soldiers returning from Iraq.


title: All These Things That I've Done

text: "All These Things That I've Done" was released as the third single from "Hot Fuss" in 2004 in the United Kingdom and as the fourth single in the United States in 2005, peaking at number 74 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 and number 18 on the UK Singles Chart. The song features the central lyric of "You gotta help me out," and an extended refrain of "I got soul, but I'm not a soldier."


title: All These Things That I've Done

text: The song is about television host Matt Pinfield. Before the Killers were famous, Pinfield, who was a vice president of A&R at Columbia Records at the time, tried to sign the band. He was also working with the U.S. Army as part of a program that mentored wounded and/or PTSD-stricken musician soldiers returning from Iraq. After visiting veteran soldiers in Colorado City, he went to Las Vegas, where he quickly bonded with the Killers. Pinfield watched the band rehearse at drummer Ronnie Vannucci's garage and took them out to dinner. He asked if anybody wanted to give him a ride back to his hotel and Brandon Flowers offered to drive Pinfield. They wound up hitting the bar at the Gold Coast Hotel on a Tuesday night, just "talking about life", Pinfield said:


title: All These Things That I've Done

text: I started to tell him the story about mentoring soldiers, and I was getting ready to go through a divorce. I was going through a bit of a rough time. So, he went home that night, and their old manager, Braden Merrick, calls me on the phone, and goes, 'Hey Matt, Brandon wrote a song about you. He went home last night and wrote this song.' It was 'All These Things That I've Done,' and the line 'I've got soul, but I'm not a soldier' is about the mentoring thing.


title: All These Things That I've Done

text: In 2016, Pinfield titled his memoir "All These Things That I've Done: My Insane, Improbable Rock Life". On January 19, 2019, the band gave Pinfield a shoutout while introducing the song at the iHeartRadio ALTer Ego 2019 festival at The Forum in Inglewood, California, where Pinfield was in attendance in a wheelchair still recovering from being hit by a car a month before.


title: All These Things That I've Done

text: The song was acclaimed by critics upon release. Bill Lamb of About.com gave the song 4 out of 5 stars, noting its strength as a pop-rock anthem. Jemma Volp-Fletcher gave the single a perfect score of 10 out of 10, calling it "staggering", while also complimenting frontman Flowers' songwriting skills. musicOMH's Sara McDonnell was also impressed, saying that it had "classic song' written all over it".


title: All These Things That I've Done

text: In 2020, "Paste" ranked the song number two on their list of the 20 greatest Killers songs, and in 2021, "American Songwriter" ranked the song number six on their list of the 10 greatest Killers songs.


title: All These Things That I've Done

text: In December 2005, the song was nominated for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal at the 48th Grammy Awards, but lost to "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" by U2.


title: All These Things That I've Done

text: The band performed the song at Live 8, a charity campaign series of concerts held in July 2005. In 2009, the Killers, Coldplay, Bono (U2), and Gary Barlow (Take That) performed the track together to support a special War Child concert following the BRIT Awards.


title: All These Things That I've Done

text: Fellow Las Vegas band Panic! At the Disco members Brendon Urie and Ryan Ross slow danced to the song according to the December 2006 issue of "Kerrang!".


title: All These Things That I've Done

text: A popular song among alternative rock bands, "All These Things That I've Done" has been covered live by numerous artists including U2, Coldplay, Imagine Dragons, Walk the Moon, Kris Allen, and Robbie Williams.


title: All These Things That I've Done

text: The song has two music videos, the earlier of which was filmed in July 2004. It features the Killers singing while walking down Brick Lane, in London accompanied by a crowd. The video also featured shots of the audience who attended the Killers concert at the London Astoria, on July 8, 2004.


title: All These Things That I've Done

text: The later version, directed by Dutch photographer Anton Corbijn, was filmed in May 2005 in Las Vegas and features a surreal, dream-like sequence, where the Killers, dressed as cowboys, are attacked by scantily clad female warriors armed with boomerangs. The story in the video is told out of order, but can be put in its order by the numbers displayed in the video. The band later made use of a similar cowboy motif during promotion of their second album, "Sam's Town", and its accompanying tour and music videos during 2006 and 2007.


title: All These Things That I've Done

text: The song is mimed to by Justin Timberlake in a drug induced dream sequence in the 2006 dystopian movie Southland Tales.


title: All These Things That I've Done

text: Comedian and musician Bill Bailey frequently pokes fun at the song's refrain during his shows, providing his own version: "I've got ham, but I'm not a hamster". According to Bailey himself, the band was aware of the parody, finding it quite amusing. The song has also been featured in commercials, including an ad for Nike.


title: Enda Kenny

text: Enda Kenny (born 24 April 1951) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2011 to 2017, Leader of Fine Gael from 2002 to 2017, Minister for Defence from May to July 2014 and 2016 to 2017, Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2011, Minister for Tourism and Trade from 1994 to 1997 and Minister of State at the Department of Labour and Department of Education with responsibility for Youth Affairs from 1986 to 1987. He served as Teachta Dála (TD) for Mayo West from 1975 to 1997 and for Mayo from 1997 to 2020.


title: Enda Kenny

text: Kenny led Fine Gael to a historic victory at the 2011 general election, his party becoming the largest in the country for the first time, forming a coalition government with the Labour Party on 9 March 2011. He subsequently became the first Fine Gael member to be elected Taoiseach for a second consecutive term on 6 May 2016, after two months of negotiations, following the 2016 election, forming a Fine Gael-led minority government. He was the first Taoiseach from Fine Gael since John Bruton (1994–1997), and the first Leader of Fine Gael to win a general election since Garret FitzGerald in 1982. He became the longest-serving Fine Gael Taoiseach in April 2017.


title: Enda Kenny

text: Kenny stepped down as Leader of Fine Gael on 2 June 2017, and announced he would resign as Taoiseach once a new leader was chosen in early June. In the following leadership election, the then Minister for Social Protection, Leo Varadkar, was elected to succeed him as Leader of Fine Gael. Kenny tendered his resignation as Taoiseach on 13 June 2017, and was succeeded by Varadkar the following day. On 5 November 2017, Kenny announced that he would not contest the following general election.


title: Enda Kenny

text: Kenny was born in 1951 in Derrycoosh, Islandeady, near Castlebar, County Mayo, the third child of five of Mary Eithne (McGinley) and Henry Kenny. He was educated locally at St Patrick's National School, Cornanool N.S, Leitir N.S and at St. Gerald's College, Castlebar. He attended St Patrick's College, Dublin, qualifying as a national teacher and was an undergraduate student at University College Galway. He worked as a primary school teacher for four years. He also played football for his local club Islandeady GAA.


title: Enda Kenny

text: Kenny was exposed to politics from an early age, following his father Henry Kenny, becoming a Fine Gael TD in 1954. In the early 1970s, he became directly involved in politics when he started helping his father with constituency clinics. In 1975, Henry Kenny (who was at this stage a Parliamentary Secretary in the government) died after a short battle with cancer. Fine Gael wanted one of his sons to stand as their candidate at the subsequent by-election, and so Enda Kenny was chosen. He was elected on the first count with 52% of the vote, and thus became the youngest member of the 20th Dáil, aged 24.


title: Enda Kenny

text: Kenny remained on the backbenches for almost a decade. He was appointed party spokesperson firstly on Youth Affairs and Sport, then Western Development; however, he failed to build a national profile as he concentrated more on constituency matters. Kenny was left out in the cold when Garret FitzGerald became Taoiseach for the first time in 1981, and again in 1982. He was, however, appointed as a member of the Fine Gael delegation at the New Ireland Forum in 1983. He later served on the British-Irish Parliamentary Association. In 1986, he became a Minister of State at the Department of Labour and Department of Education with responsibility for Youth Affairs. Fine Gael lost the 1987 general election, resulting in Kenny and Fine Gael being on the opposition benches for the next seven years. In spite of this, his national profile was raised as he served in a number of positions on the party's front bench, including Education, Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht, and the Islands. He was also the Fine Gael Chief Whip for a short period.


title: Enda Kenny

text: In late 1994, the Fianna Fáil–Labour Party government collapsed; however, no general election was called. Instead, a Fine Gael–Labour Party–Democratic Left "Rainbow Coalition" came to power. Kenny, as Fine Gael chief whip, was a key member of the team, which negotiated the programme for government with the other parties prior to the formation of the new government. Under Taoiseach John Bruton, Kenny joined the cabinet and was appointed Minister for Tourism and Trade. During his tenure as Minister, Ireland saw a significant growth in the tourism sector and in its international trade position. As Minister, he chaired the European Union Council of Trade Ministers, during Ireland's six-month Presidency of the European Council, as well as co-chairing a round of the World Trade Organization talks in 1996. Among Kenny's other achievements were the rejuvenation of the Saint Patrick's Day parade in Dublin, and the successful negotiations to bring a stage of the 1998 Tour de France to Ireland. In 1997, the government was defeated at the general election and Kenny returned to the opposition benches.


title: Enda Kenny

text: John Bruton resigned as leader of Fine Gael in 2001, following a vote of no confidence in his ability. Kenny stood in the subsequent leadership election, promising to "electrify the party". In the final ballot it was Michael Noonan who emerged victorious (it is Fine Gael's custom not to publish ballot results for leadership elections). Noonan did not give a spokesperson's assignment to Kenny; this led him to accuse Noonan of sending a "dangerous message".


title: Enda Kenny

text: At the 2002 general election, Fine Gael suffered its worst electoral performance ever, losing 23 seats, a figure larger than expected, with its share of the vote down 5%. Kenny himself came close to losing his seat, and even went so far as to prepare a concession speech. In the end he won the third seat in the five-seat constituency. Noonan resigned as Fine Gael leader on the night of the result, an action which triggered another leadership election. Protest meetings were held by members of the party against the speed with which the leadership election had been called and the failure to broaden the franchise to the membership. It was suggested that it was foolish to choose a leader before conducting an electoral post-mortem.


title: Enda Kenny

text: In September 2002, Kenny was accused of making racist remarks after he used the word "nigger" in a joke relating to Patrice Lumumba, the assassinated first Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kenny wanted the incident to be suppressed, and specifically asked journalists not to cite it, though the "Sunday Independent" newspaper reported his "chortling repetition of the inflammatory word". He was subsequently condemned by race campaigners at home and abroad. Matters were made worse when it emerged that several of Lumumba's relatives, including a son and several grandchildren, lived in Tallaght.


title: Enda Kenny

text: Kenny apologised unreservedly but insisted that there was no racist intent, and that he was merely quoting what a Moroccan barman had once said, while reminiscing about an incident he had witnessed in the company of his friend David Molony, whose sudden death had recently occurred. However, what he said was widely seen as politically indefensible, as a story that should not have been told in the company of reporters by someone hoping to become the next Taoiseach.


title: Enda Kenny

text: Fine Gael out-performed expectations at the 2004 Local and European elections, which saw Fine Gael increase its representation from 4 MEPs of 15 from Ireland, to 5 from 13. This was the first time Fine Gael had ever defeated Fianna Fáil in a national election, as well as the first time Fianna Fáil had failed to finish first in a national election since its second place in the 1927 general election behind Cumann na nGaedheal, Fine Gael's immediate predecessor.


title: Enda Kenny

text: In July 2005, five men from the north of Kenny's Mayo constituency were jailed over their opposition to the Fianna Fáil-led government's plans for the Corrib gas project. One of the men, Philip McGrath, worked for Kenny as an election agent for Rossport during general elections. Unlike his fellow Mayo Fine Gael TD, Michael Ring, Kenny was cautious about backing the men's stance (Ring would later be forced to adopt the same policy). The Shell to Sea campaign that was founded to help release the men and get the government to change its mind shut down work on the project for fifteen months. When Gardaí were brought in to remove protesters with tactics that saw many hospitalised, Kenny said: "The law must be obeyed."


title: Enda Kenny

text: In November 2005, Kenny called for the abolition of compulsory Irish for the Leaving Certificate examinations. This was opposed by all the major Irish language organisations. In March 2006, he was elected vice-president of the European People's Party (EPP), the largest European political group to which Fine Gael is affiliated. In his speech to the EPP, he stated that Fine Gael would be in government in Ireland within two years.


title: Enda Kenny

text: During the first half of 2006, Kenny went aggressively after a more populist line on the cost of immigration, street crime, paedophilia and homeowners' rights. A graphic description of a mugging he had experienced was given to the Dáil, in the context of a crime discussion, only for it to be revealed a day later that the incident had occurred in Kenya, not in Ireland.


title: Enda Kenny

text: Under Kenny, Fine Gael agreed to enter a pre-election pact with the Labour Party, to offer the electorate an alternative coalition government at the 2007 general election held on 24 May 2007. The so-called Mullingar Accord was agreed in September 2004, following the European and local elections that year. The Green Party also signalled via the media to be in favour of membership of such a coalition government after the election. However, it would not commit to an agreement before polling day.


title: Enda Kenny

text: Kenny's leadership attempted to define Fine Gael as a party of the progressive centre. Its policy initiatives concentrated on value for money, consumer rights, civil partnerships, reform of public spending, reward and enterprise and preventative health care policy. The party sought to retake its former mantle as the law-and-order and a party committed to defending the institutions of the state. At the Fine Gael Ardfheis in March 2007, Kenny outlined his platform for the forthcoming general election entitled the "Contract for a Better Ireland". The main aspects of this "contract" included: 2,300 more hospital beds, 2,000 more Gardaí, tougher jail sentences and tougher bail for criminals, free health insurance for all children under 16 and lower income tax. Bertie Ahern was perceived by many to have comfortably beaten Kenny in the pre-election Leaders' debate. When the votes were counted it emerged that Fine Gael had made large gains, increasing its number of seats by twenty, to give a total of 51 seats in the new Dáil. However, Labour and the Greens failed to make gains, leaving Kenny's "Alliance for Change" short of a majority. Despite predictions to the contrary, the Fianna Fáil vote recovered sufficiently to bring it to 78 seats, and a third term in government for Ahern.


title: Enda Kenny

text: Responding to the banking crisis in County Cork, on 15 February 2009, Kenny asked the entire board of the Central Bank of Ireland's Financial Regulation section to resign.


title: Enda Kenny

text: An opinion poll published in "The Irish Times" on 10 June 2010 triggered a challenge to Kenny's leadership of the party. The Ipsos MRBI poll indicated that the Labour Party had become the most popular political party in the country for the first time, and also showed a drop in backing for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, and for their leaders. It showed a five-point drop in Fianna Fáil support since January 2010, leaving that party on 17%, Fine Gael down four points to 28%, and Labour up eight points to 32%. Satisfaction with Kenny's leadership dropped 7% to 24%.


title: Enda Kenny

text: Following the failure of the party's deputy leader Richard Bruton to support him, he was dismissed by Kenny on 14 June 2010. He also tabled a motion of confidence in his leadership, to be held on 17 June 2010. On the following day it was revealed that nine members of the Fine Gael frontbench did not have confidence in Kenny to lead their party – composed of Simon Coveney, Denis Naughten, Olwyn Enright, Olivia Mitchell, Fergus O'Dowd, Michael Creed, Billy Timmins, Leo Varadkar and Brian Hayes. Denis Naughten said frontbench members did not have Kenny's support and would like him to withdraw his motion of confidence and stand down in the interest of the party.


title: Enda Kenny

text: In December 2008, Vincent Browne criticised Kenny in "The Irish Times" for not having a grasp of the issues, notably of economic issues.


title: Enda Kenny

text: The motion of confidence in Kenny was passed. He announced a major reshuffle of his party's front bench on 1 July 2010, re-appointing Bruton, Coveney, O'Dowd, and Varadkar.


title: Enda Kenny

text: At the start of the 2011 general election campaign, Kenny said Fine Gael recognised the importance of "the giving of hope and confidence to people through the taxation system", when speaking to reporters outside party election headquarters in Dublin. "The Fine Gael party in this election is the only party that is categorically saying that there will not be any increase in income tax over our period in government", he said. He said the country needed strong government and not an administration that depended on the support of Independents. "I think that this is a time for courageous and strong government. It is not a time for government that might self-combust or that would be dependent on the whim of any mercenary Independents. This is a judgment call for the people."


title: Enda Kenny

text: There was several leaders debates on television during the campaign. There were, uniquely, three debates on stations TV3, RTÉ and TG4, between Enda Kenny, Michaél Martin and Eamon Gilmore, and a five-way leaders' debate on RTÉ which also included Gerry Adams and John Gormley, along with the other participants from the three-way debates.


title: Enda Kenny

text: Kenny, however, refused to participate in the three-way leaders' debate proposed by TV3, stating his unhappiness that Vincent Browne was to chair the debate. Browne is a well-known critic of Fine Gael and Kenny. In 1982, Browne appeared on "The Late Late Show" where he poured scorn on Kenny, claiming he was "purporting" to be a TD. In October 2010, Browne was forced to make a public apology to Kenny after jokingly asking whether Fine Gael was requesting that he go into a darkroom with a gun and a bottle of whisky. This was in reference to Fine Gael's position in the polls, where they were in second place to Labour, and a previous leadership challenge to Kenny by Richard Bruton. Kenny refused to appear on the leaders debate despite an offer by Browne to be replaced by a different moderator for the debate if Kenny would appear.


title: Enda Kenny

text: Kenny participated in a three-party leader debate on RTÉ moderated by Miriam O'Callaghan, and also in a five-way debate on RTÉ; this was a new format, involving all party leaders of the outgoing Dáil, including Kenny, moderated by Pat Kenny.


title: Enda Kenny

text: He participated in a three-way debate in the Irish language with Micheál Martin and Eamon Gilmore on TG4.


title: Enda Kenny

text: On 14 February 2011, Kenny met German Chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss the Irish economy. Kenny and Merkel have close political ties because Merkel's CDU party and Fine Gael are both members of the centre-right European People's Party (EPP), and seating at EPP meetings is arranged by alphabetical order of surname. The close relationship between these two leaders is illustrated further by the fact that Angela Merkel also backed Enda Kenny and Fine Gael during the 2007 election.


title: Enda Kenny

text: Opinion polls of 23 February 2011, sponsored by "Paddy Power", the "Irish Independent", and "The Irish Times" suggested that Kenny would lead Fine Gael to its largest total of seats to date in the 31st Dáil, and that he would be elected Taoiseach.


title: Enda Kenny

text: In the election, Kenny led Fine Gael to a decisive victory. The party won 76 seats, the most in its 78-year history, becoming the largest party in the Dáil for the first time. Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil suffered the worst defeat of a sitting government in the history of the Irish state, its representation being reduced by 75%. Kenny himself topped the poll in his Mayo constituency and uniquely three others from Fine Gael were elected alongside Kenny. At a victory party in Dublin, Kenny declared Fine Gael had "a massive endorsement" to govern, and the election marked "a transformative moment in Ireland's history". Later, he told RTÉ that he fully expected to become Taoiseach after what he called "a democratic revolution at the ballot box". While there was some talk that Fine Gael would govern alone as a minority government, senior Fine Gael leaders indicated as soon as the election result was beyond doubt that they would likely enter a coalition government with the Labour Party. Late on the night of 5 March 2011, at Dublin Castle, Fine Gael and Labour formally agreed to form a coalition government with Kenny as Taoiseach and Labour leader Eamon Gilmore as Tánaiste, with Labour being given four other seats in cabinet.


title: Enda Kenny

text: Kenny said that his first priority upon taking office would be to renegotiate the terms of the bailout for Ireland, calling the original deal "a bad deal for Ireland and a bad deal for Europe".


title: Enda Kenny

text: The members of the 31st Dáil convened for the first time on 9 March 2011, the Dáil elected Kenny as Taoiseach by a vote of 117–27. Kenny received his seal of office from President Mary McAleese. He also announced ministerial appointees to his Government on 9 March 2011. At just under 59 years and 11 months on accession, Kenny is the second-oldest person to have assumed the office for the first time, the oldest being Seán Lemass.


title: Enda Kenny

text: On 9 March 2011, Kenny appointed 15 junior Ministers. He also appointed a Minister for political reform, and sent a request to the Office of Public Works as to how he could address ministerial transport. On 15 March 2011, it was announced that only the current President, the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Minister for Justice and Equality were to have Garda drivers. All other Ministers would have to make use of their own transport with a mileage allowance and a commercial chauffeur as an expense. There was no announcement as to the continuing engagement of three government jets. The media reported that this would reduce the ministerial motor vehicle transport bill to €7,000,000 annually, which is more than the combined annual tax contributions of 16,000 people on minimum wage.


title: Enda Kenny

text: In one of his first acts as Taoiseach, Kenny slashed his own pay by €14,000 (a reduction of 7%). The new government also decided to cut the pay of senior Ministers. The Taoiseach's pay was cut from €214,187 to €200,000. Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore's pay was cut from €197,486 to €184,405. Ministers' pay was reduced to €169,275 (from €181,283), while pay for Ministers of State was cut from €139,266 to €130,042. In another cost-cutting measure, Kenny asked the Gardai, the Departments of Justice and Transport, as well as the Office of Public Works, to come up with a plan to reduce the amount spent on transporting Ministers and their teams.


title: Enda Kenny

text: On 11 March 2011, his third day in office, Kenny attended his first European Council as Taoiseach, in Brussels. During that summit he engaged in a heated confrontation with President of France Nicolas Sarkozy (which Kenny termed "a Gallic spat") over Ireland's comparatively low 12.5% corporate tax rate, which EU leaders have frequently posited as a condition of more favourable terms for the Irish bailout. Kenny held firm on his refusal to alter the corporate tax, which he reiterated in his first Leaders' Questions the following week—also declaring his government's intention to withhold further state funds from Dublin banks until the EU agreed to new terms that forced banks' senior bondholders to share in the losses.


title: Enda Kenny

text: However, less than three weeks later on 31 March 2011, the Central Bank of Ireland published the results of its "stress tests" on Ireland's four surviving banks (Allied Irish Banks, Bank of Ireland, EBS, and Irish Life & Permanent) — indicating that the banks needed to raise an additional €24,000,000,000 to remain solvent. Despite his earlier promise, the government announced the same day that the state would supply the necessary funds to keep the banks afloat, with Kenny stating that seeking the money from bondholders would be neither "reasonable or logical".


title: Enda Kenny

text: Kenny was heavily criticised for his government's action, with the "Irish Independent" noting that "this is the fifth time Irish people have been told over the past couple of years it would be the last payout they would have to endure".


title: Enda Kenny

text: Nevertheless, the first national opinion poll since Kenny took office, published on 10 April 2011, showed that public support for Kenny's Fine Gael party had increased since the election from 36% to 39%, although a plurality also indicated deep dissatisfaction with his rescue of the banks.


title: Enda Kenny

text: On 21 July 2011, Kenny announced that an agreement had been reached by Eurozone leaders to reduce Ireland's interest rate by 2% and extend the repayment period.


title: Enda Kenny

text: On 9 May 2011, Kenny's government announced a new job creation program, along with plan to finance it via a 0.6% tax levy on private pension savings. Public pension funds, however, would remain untouched. The pension levy caused an immediate and intense outcry, leaving Kenny to defend the initiative as "a modest proposal" and refuting charges that the government would next tax personal savings. However, the controversy surrounding the levy intensified on 12 May 2011, when Kenny admitted that the holders of Approved Retirement Funds—most of whom were among the highest income earners in Ireland—would not be included in the levy.


title: Enda Kenny

text: On 3 May 2011, Kenny's government approved a set of political reforms that adhered to promises he had made in the general election. Among the approved reforms were a binding Constituency Commission scheduled for June 2011, with the specific purpose of reducing the number of TDs by up to 20; an act to establish a six-month time limit for holding by-elections to the Dáil; a €750,000 spending limit in the 2011 presidential election; legislation to ban corporate donations, to be enacted by summer 2011; establishment of a Constitutional Convention in 2011, which was to include discussion of the Seanad; and a referendum on the abolition of the Seanad, to be held in the second half of 2012. The promise to cut up to 20 TDs caused some controversy and scepticism, due to the Constitutional requirement that there be no less than one TD for every 30,000 people, which would necessitate a minimum of 150 TDs—meaning that the current number of 166 TDs could be reduced by 16 at most.


title: Enda Kenny

text: On 13 July 2011, the Cloyne Report was published, detailing the investigation into allegations of child sexual abuse by 19 priests in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cloyne. Among the report's findings were the revelation that the vast majority of allegations made in the diocese were not reported to the Garda, as required by the Church's 1996 guidelines; that the Bishop of the Diocese, John Magee, and others had withheld full co-operation with the Government's investigation and had deliberately misrepresented his own response to the allegations; and that the Vatican itself had both refused to co-operate in the investigation and counselled the Diocese that the 1996 guidelines were not binding.


title: Enda Kenny

text: On 20 July 2011, for its role in the scandal, stating that the Church's role in obstructing the investigation was a serious infringement upon the sovereignty of Ireland and that the scandal revealed "the dysfunction, disconnection and elitism that dominates the culture of the Vatican to this day". He added that "the historic relationship between church and state in Ireland could not be the same again".


title: Enda Kenny

text: Kenny's attack on the Vatican was unprecedented by a high-level official in Ireland. The speech was widely regarded as extraordinary, with the "Daily Mail" commenting that the attack was "the first time that Ireland's Parliament has publicly castigated the Vatican instead of local church leaders during the country's 17 years of paedophile-priest scandals". "The Guardian" remarked that " the political classes have...lost their fear, namely of the once almighty Roman Catholic church."


title: Enda Kenny

text: On 3 September, the Holy See issued its response to Kenny's speech noting that "the accusation that the Holy See attempted "to frustrate an Inquiry in a sovereign, democratic republic as little as three years ago, not three decades ago", which Mr Kenny made no attempt to substantiate, is unfounded. Indeed, when asked, a Government spokesperson clarified that Mr. Kenny was not referring to any specific incident". The response added that "Those Reports [...] contain no evidence to suggest that the Holy See meddled in the internal affairs of the Irish State or, for that matter, was involved in the day-to-day management of Irish dioceses or religious congregations with respect to sexual abuse issues".


title: Enda Kenny

text: On the quoting of then Cardinal Ratzinger, the response notes that the quotation was taken from the "Instruction on the Ecclesial Vocation of the Theologian", otherwise known as "Donum Veritatis" (The Gift of the Truth), published by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on 24 May 1990, and signed by the then Prefect and Secretary of the Congregation. Therefore, it is not a private text of the then Cardinal Ratzinger but an official document of the Congregation.


title: Enda Kenny

text: Kenny gave a on 4 December 2011, ahead of the delivery of the 2012 Irish budget. He warned that Budget 2012 "will be tough", and that "it has to be". He also said that it would move Ireland towards a manageable deficit of 3% of GDP by 2015. This was only the sixth time that a Taoiseach had addressed the nation, reflecting the gravity of the Irish economic condition, in what Kenny stressed were "exceptional" circumstances. The broadcast was the second-most watched television programme of 2011 in Ireland, attracting an audience of 1.2 million viewers.


title: Enda Kenny

text: In February 2013, a deal was reached with the European Central Bank, in relation to the promissory note used to bail out the former Anglo Irish Bank. Kenny described it as "a good day for the country and its people". He told the Dáil that, as a result of the changes, there would be a €20 billion reduction in the borrowing requirement of the National Treasury Management Agency in the years ahead, but also cautioned that the agreement was not a "silver bullet".


title: Enda Kenny

text: On 19 February 2013, Kenny apologised in Dáil Éireann, on behalf of the State to the survivors of the Magdalene Laundries. The government also told the estimated 800 to 1,000 surviving Magdalene women that a compensation scheme would be set up for them. However, by February 2014, none of the 684 applicants had received their statutory old-age pensions or health care benefits promised.


title: Enda Kenny

text: To mark the end of the Troika bailout in December 2013, Kenny gave a second address to the nation, saying that the country was moving in the right direction, and that the economy was starting to recover.


title: Enda Kenny

text: In March 2014, in response to reports that Garda stations were bugged, Kenny informed the Dáil that he had sent Brian Purcell, the Secretary General of the Department of Justice, to Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan, the day before Callinan's sudden departure from his role. Leader of the Opposition Micheál Martin said this meant Kenny had effectively "sacked" Callinan. Kenny also said that he had been personally briefed on Garda surveillance by his Attorney General Máire Whelan, as Whelan did not wish to speak of the matter over the telephone.


title: Enda Kenny

text: In May 2014, following the resignation of Minister for Justice and Equality Alan Shatter, support for Kenny and his party slumped at the local and European elections. Kenny was later to be seen doing some "happy dancing" at the annual Bloom Festival.


title: Enda Kenny

text: In March 2015, Kenny was criticised for his lack of understanding towards Wexford TD Mick Wallace's inability to speak Irish, during leader's questions in the Dáil.


title: Enda Kenny

text: In April 2015, Kenny told the Dáil a tale about a man with two pints in one hand. Leader of Sinn Féin Gerry Adams immediately quizzed him on this, saying: "Two pints in one hand?".


title: Enda Kenny

text: On 22 September 2015, Kenny controversially delayed leaders' questions in the Dáil so that he could open the Denis O'Brien-controlled Independent News & Media's new digital hub. Kenny had previously launched a book for James Morrissey, the long-term paid spokesperson for O'Brien.


title: Enda Kenny

text: A "punching gesture" made by Kenny as Mary Lou McDonald was speaking during a Dáil debate on the Budget on 13 October 2015, attracted public notice. McDonald later responded by saying, "a punching gesture is unusual behaviour to say the least and I would suggest not to be repeated".


title: Enda Kenny

text: Later that month, Kenny told a gathering of the European People's Party (EPP) in Madrid, that he had been instructed to have the army guarded ATMs, during the economic downturn. Opposition TDs wondered why he did not tell this to the banking inquiry and Kenny was accused of "telling a tall tale". Kenny himself later contradicted his own account by saying he had not received a specific briefing on the matter. A spokesman for Kenny later claimed it had been "informally discussed" in Government Buildings in early 2012, but that minutes had not been kept due to the sensitivity of the details therein.


title: Enda Kenny

text: On 3 February 2016, Kenny announced his intention to request that President Higgins dissolve the 31st Dáil. He told the Dáil before its dissolution that the 2016 general election would occur on Friday, 26 February.


title: Enda Kenny

text: At a Fine Gael rally in his home town of Castlebar, County Mayo, on 20 February 2016, Kenny informed an audience that his local constituents were All-Ireland champion "whingers". He later told media in Galway, that he was referring to local Fianna Fáil members.


title: Enda Kenny

text: Fine Gael won 50 seats in the 32nd Dáil, 29 short of an overall majority. Preliminary discussions took place with Leader of the Opposition Mícheál Martin, in order to agree on an arrangement to support either Kenny, Fine Gael or under a new leader to form a new government. On 10 March 2016, Kenny resigned as Taoiseach, after failing to win enough votes to be elected for a second term. He and the cabinet continued in a caretaker capacity until a new government was formed.


title: Enda Kenny

text: As caretaker Kenny went to Washington, D.C., as usual for Saint Patrick's Day. There he was reported as having told the Irish Embassy: "Bejaysus, I wish I didn't have to go back and face what I have to face". He also met President Barack Obama, as part of the annual visit of the Taoiseach to the White House, for the handing over of the bowl of shamrock.


title: Enda Kenny

text: On 29 April 2016, an agreement was reached with Fianna Fáil to allow a Fine Gael–led minority government, and on 6 May 2016, Kenny was elected Taoiseach again, by a margin of 59 to 49 votes (with 51 abstentions), and formed a government. He became the first member of Fine Gael to win re-election as Taoiseach in the party's history. Kenny also took over as Minister for Defence, from Simon Coveney, who was appointed Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government.


title: Enda Kenny

text: Regarding the United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, Kenny went on record as saying the possibility of a "Brexit" would cause a "serious difficulty" with maintaining peace in Northern Ireland. He was described as favouring Britain remaining in the European Union, for were Britain to leave the EU, the peace settlement in Northern Ireland might collapse. This statement was denounced by Theresa Villiers, the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, as "scaremongering of the worst possible kind"; she stated that the Common Travel Area, the "open border" encompassing the United Kingdom and Ireland, would not be affected by Britain's departure from the EU.


title: Enda Kenny

text: On 30 January 2017, a joint press meeting was held between Enda Kenny and British Prime Minister Theresa May, in Merrion Street, Dublin, to discuss the implications of Brexit on Northern Ireland and Ireland.


title: Enda Kenny

text: Subsequent to the 2016 general election, there were calls for him to step down as Leader of Fine Gael, and thus as Taoiseach. After the uncovering of the Garda smear campaign of sergeant Maurice McCabe, some backbench TDs lost confidence in Kenny. Kenny had stated he would indicate his plans for a leadership change following his return from the US for the traditional St. Patrick's Day celebrations; however, at the St. Patrick's Day parade in New York City, Kenny stated that he would not stand down from leadership until the issues of Brexit and the aftermath of the snap election in Northern Ireland had been resolved, saying that "you can't have a situation where you have no leadership in Northern Ireland and where we have to define from a European Union point of view where Ireland would be, what the agreed terms of reference for the [Brexit] negotiations are". He also remarked that he and Prime Minister May were in agreement that there would not be a return to direct rule from Westminster in Northern Ireland. On 20 March, Finance Minister Michael Noonan stated that Kenny should remain in office at least until June, when the next phase of EU Brexit negotiations was set to begin. The following day, Kenny announced that he would not consider standing down until May at the earliest, and that he planned to attend the European Council on 29 April 2017, to discuss strategy surrounding Brexit.


title: Enda Kenny

text: On 17 May 2017, Kenny announced his intention to step down as party leader, effective at midnight. He requested that the party conclude the election of his successor by 2 June 2017, and said that he would step down as Taoiseach shortly thereafter. In the ensuing election, Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar was elected Leader of Fine Gael. In a statement, Kenny offered his "heartiest congratulations" to Varadkar, saying "this is a tremendous honour for him and I know he will devote his life to improving the lives of people across our country".


title: Enda Kenny

text: In early June 2017, Kenny made his final trip to the U.S. as Taoiseach. While in Chicago on 4 June 2017, he was in attendance at Soldier Field for Irish rock band U2's performance as part of their Joshua Tree Tour. U2 lead singer Bono dedicated their performance of the song "Trip Through Your Wires" to Kenny, saying "The man we call Taoiseach, which I think might mean head of the house or something like that... The chieftain of our country is here tonight! ...We’d like to honour our graceful leader."


title: Enda Kenny

text: On 13 June 2017, Kenny tendered his resignation as Taoiseach. The following day, 14 June 2017, he nominated Varadkar to formally succeed him as Taoiseach in the Dáil; the Dáil approved the nomination. Kenny then made his farewell address to the Dáil, quoting U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt: "Far and away, the best prize that life has to offer is a chance to work hard at work worth doing." After receiving a standing ovation from the Dáil, Kenny departed for Áras an Uachtaráin and submitted his resignation to President Michael D. Higgins. In his last duty as Taoiseach he advised the President that the Dáil had nominated Varadkar as Taoiseach, and that the President should thus invite him to form a new government and appoint him as Taoiseach in accordance with the constitution.


title: Enda Kenny

text: On 29 December 2017, Kenny was a wedding guest of Fine Gael Senator Jerry Buttimer in Cork. When a reporter took the opportunity to remind him of a nearby event centre of which Kenny had "turned the sod" nearly two years previously, but of which the construction was now halted, Kenny made it known he was there to attend a marriage.


title: Enda Kenny

text: In June 2018, Kenny was named 'Irish European of the Year' for "his outstanding contribution to promoting and developing Ireland's place in Europe through some of the most challenging circumstances in our history around the time of the Brexit referendum to also chairing the European Council and developing and promoting our relationship with the European Union".


title: Enda Kenny

text: In October 2019, "RTÉ Investigates" reported that Kenny had voted in the Dáil on just three occasions in 2019 (two of those votes taking place on the same day), and had missed 96% of votes that took place between June 2017 and July 2019. In total, he had voted just 15 times in that period out of a possible 400 votes. The report stated that Kenny's attendance in the Dáil had been registered on 263 days during that period, and that he had claimed the full travel and accommodation allowance of €47,000 to which he was entitled, in addition to his salary.


title: Enda Kenny

text: He presented a six part Irish language television series about old Irish railway routes on RTÉ One in 2021, called "Iarnród Enda". It commenced broadcasting on Monday 5 April 2021.


title: Enda Kenny

text: In 2019, Kenny was appointed chair of the global advisory board of Dublin private equity firm Venturewave Capital. In August 2021, Kenny joined the board of Heneghan Strategic Communications, the lobbying and public relations agency run by Nigel Heneghan. In September 2021, he joined the board of Dublin-headquartered ‘mechanical tree’ firm Carbon Collect as a non-executive director.


title: Enda Kenny

text: Kenny's tenure as Taoiseach was dominated by the introduction of austerity policies in the aftermath of the economic recession. These policies began under the previous Fianna Fáil government in 2008, and continued for much of his first term. Overall, the impact of these budgets has been described as not conforming to "either a progressive pattern (losses increasing with income) or regressive pattern (losses declining with income)" by the Economic and Social Research Institute.


title: Enda Kenny

text: Political journalist John Downing wrote a biography of Kenny titled "Enda Kenny: The Unlikely Taoiseach".


title: Enda Kenny

text: Kenny has been married to Fionnuala O'Kelly since 1992. She has been described by the media as his "secret weapon". O'Kelly is a first cousin to sitting Fine Gael MEP Seán Kelly, who also served as a President of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). The O'Kelly family originally come from the parish of Kilcummin near Killarney, County Kerry. The couple have three children: one daughter, Aoibhinn, and two sons, Ferdia and Naoise. The couple met in Leinster House, where O'Kelly worked as a press officer for Fianna Fáil. She later worked with Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ).


title: Enda Kenny

text: Kenny has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and completed the Ring of Kerry Charity Cycle. He is a keen supporter of his native Mayo GAA football team, and played football for his local club, Islandeady GAA, of which he is the current club president. His father Henry, won an All-Ireland medal with the county team in 1936. His grandfather was a lighthouse keeper.


title: Boza

text: Boza, also bosa, is a fermented beverage originating from the Middle East and made in parts of Southeast Europe, Central and Western Asia, Caucasus and North Africa. It is a malt drink made by fermenting various grains: wheat or millet in Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, North Macedonia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and barley in Ancient Egypt, maize (corn) and wheat in Turkey. It has a thick consistency, a low alcohol content (around 1%), and a slightly acidic sweet flavor.


title: Boza

text: According to Turkish etymological dictionary and "Nişanyan Sözlük", "boza" is etymologically either Persian or Turkic in origin.


title: Boza

text: The dictionary states that Persian "būza" or "buχsum" and Old Turkic "buχsı" or "buχsum" are cognates, yet it is unclear from which language it was ultimately derived and which one took it as a loanword. Francis Joseph Steingass says it is Persian and Ármin Vámbéry says it is an ancient Turkish word found in "Kutadgu Bilig".


title: Boza

text: The oldest written account of the drink is under the name "buχsum" and is attested from the 1073 Middle Turkic dictionary "Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk" by Mahmud al-Kashgari. Modern Turkish word "boza" is believed to be cognates with the Old Turkic "buχsı" or "buχsum". The drink under the name "boza" is first attested in Abu Hayyan al-Gharnati's early 14th century Kipchak Turkic work "Kitab al-'idrak li-lisan al-'atrak"


title: Boza

text: Fermented cereal flour (generally millet) drinks have been produced in Anatolia and Mesopotamia since the 9th or 8th millennia BCE, and Xenophon mentioned in the 4th century BCE how the locals preserved and cooled the preparations in earthen pots that were buried. There are references mentioning boza-like "fermented (ground) millet drink" in Akkadian and Sumerian texts; the beverage is said to be respectively "arsikku" and "ar-zig". In the 10th century CE, the drink was called "Boza" and became common amongst Central Asian Turkic peoples. Later it spread to the Caucasus and the Balkans. It enjoyed its golden age under the Ottomans, and "boza"-making became a common trade in towns and cities.


title: Boza

text: Until the 16th century, boza was drunk freely everywhere, but the custom of making the so-called Tartar boza laced with opium brought the wrath of the authorities down on the drink, and it was prohibited by sultan Selim II (1566–1574). He describes a type of non-alcoholic sweet "boza" of a milk white color usually made by Albanians.


title: Boza

text: In the 17th century, Sultan Mehmed IV (1648–1687) prohibited alcoholic drinks including "boza", and closed down all the "boza" shops. This prohibition would be reinforced and then loosened several times in the history of the empire. The 17th century Turkish traveler Evliya Çelebi reports that "boza" was widely drunk at this time, and that there were 300 "boza" shops employing over a thousand people in Istanbul alone.


title: Boza

text: In this period, boza was widely drunk by the Janissaries in the army. It contained only a low level of alcohol, so as long as it was not consumed in sufficient quantities to cause drunkenness, it was tolerated as a warming and strengthening beverage for soldiers. As Evliya Çelebi explained in the first volume ("Istanbul") of his "Seyahatname" (Travelogues), "These "boza" makers are numerous in the army. To drink sufficient "boza" to cause intoxication is sinful but, unlike wine, in small quantities it is not condemned." In the 19th century, the sweet and non-alcoholic "boza" preferred at the Ottoman palace became increasingly popular, while the sour and alcoholic type of boza went out of style. In 1876, brothers Haci Ibrahim and Haci Sadik established a boza shop in the Istanbul district of Vefa, close to the then center of entertainment, Direklerarası. This "boza", with its thick consistency and tart flavor, became famous throughout the city. It is the only "boza" shop dating from that period still in business today, and is now run by the founders' great-great-grandchildren.


title: Boza

text: Boza is produced in the Balkans, notably Bulgaria and most of the Turkic regions, but not always using millet. The flavour varies according to the cereal which is used. Measuring boza samples made from maize, wheat, and rice flours, researchers determined an average of 12.3% total sugar, 1.06% protein, and 0.07% fat.


title: Boza

text: Boza spoils if not kept in a cool place, therefore boza fermenters in Turkey did not sell boza during the hot summer traditionally, instead selling alternative beverages such as grape juice or lemonade. They produce it in the summer now due to increased availability of refrigeration, and revenue from high demand. Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Bulgaria, Albania, and North Macedonia produce boza as a refreshing beverage year-round.


title: Boza

text: Other beverages from around the world that are traditionally low-alcohol and lacto-fermented include:


title: Measurable function

text: In mathematics and in particular measure theory, a measurable function is a function between the underlying sets of two measurable spaces that preserves the structure of the spaces: the preimage of any measurable set is measurable. This is in direct analogy to the definition that a continuous function between topological spaces preserves the topological structure: the preimage of any open set is open. In real analysis, measurable functions are used in the definition of the Lebesgue integral. In probability theory, a measurable function on a probability space is known as a random variable.


title: Measurable function

text: Let formula_1 and formula_2 be measurable spaces, meaning that formula_3 and formula_4 are sets equipped with respective formula_5-algebras formula_6 and formula_7 A function formula_8 is said to be measurable if for every formula_9 the pre-image of formula_10 under formula_11 is in formula_6; that is, for all formula_13


title: Measurable function

text: That is, formula_15 where formula_16 is the σ-algebra generated by f. If formula_8 is a measurable function, we will write


title: Measurable function

text: The choice of formula_5-algebras in the definition above is sometimes implicit and left up to the context. For example, for formula_23 formula_24 or other topological spaces, the Borel algebra (generated by all the open sets) is a common choice. Some authors define measurable functions as exclusively real-valued ones with respect to the Borel algebra.


title: Measurable function

text: If the values of the function lie in an infinite-dimensional vector space, other non-equivalent definitions of measurability, such as weak measurability and Bochner measurability, exist.


title: Measurable function

text: Real-valued functions encountered in applications tend to be measurable; however, it is not difficult to prove the existence of non-measurable functions. Such proofs rely on the axiom of choice in an essential way, in the sense that Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory without the axiom of choice does not prove the existence of such functions.


title: Measurable function

text: In any measure space "formula_25" with a non-measurable set formula_53 formula_54 one can construct a non-measurable indicator function:


title: Measurable function

text: where formula_56 is equipped with the usual Borel algebra. This is a non-measurable function since the preimage of the measurable set formula_57 is the non-measurable formula_58


title: Measurable function

text: As another example, any non-constant function formula_59 is non-measurable with respect to the trivial formula_5-algebra formula_61 since the preimage of any point in the range is some proper, nonempty subset of formula_62 which is not an element of the trivial formula_63


title: Locus (mathematics)

text: In geometry, a locus (plural: "loci") (Latin word for "place", "location") is a set of all points (commonly, a line, a line segment, a curve or a surface), whose location satisfies or is determined by one or more specified conditions.


title: Locus (mathematics)

text: In other words, the set of the points that satisfy some property is often called the "locus of a point" satisfying this property. The use of the singular in this formulation is a witness that, until the end of the 19th century, mathematicians did not consider infinite sets. Instead of viewing lines and curves as sets of points, they viewed them as places where a point may be "located" or may move.


title: Locus (mathematics)

text: Until the beginning of the 20th century, a geometrical shape (for example a curve) was not considered as an infinite set of points; rather, it was considered as an entity on which a point may be located or on which it moves. Thus a circle in the Euclidean plane was defined as the "locus" of a point that is at a given distance of a fixed point, the center of the circle. In modern mathematics, similar concepts are more frequently reformulated by describing shapes as sets; for instance, one says that the circle is the set of points that are at a given distance from the center.


title: Locus (mathematics)

text: In contrast to the set-theoretic view, the old formulation avoids considering infinite collections, as avoiding the actual infinite was an important philosophical position of earlier mathematicians.


title: Locus (mathematics)

text: Once set theory became the universal basis over which the whole mathematics is built, the term of locus became rather old-fashioned. Nevertheless, the word is still widely used, mainly for a concise formulation, for example:


title: Locus (mathematics)

text: More recently, techniques such as the theory of schemes, and the use of category theory instead of set theory to give a foundation to mathematics, have returned to notions more like the original definition of a locus as an object in itself rather than as a set of points.


title: Locus (mathematics)

text: Other examples of loci appear in various areas of mathematics. For example, in complex dynamics, the Mandelbrot set is a subset of the complex plane that may be characterized as the connectedness locus of a family of polynomial maps.


title: Locus (mathematics)

text: To prove a geometric shape is the correct locus for a given set of conditions, one generally divides the proof into two stages:


title: Locus (mathematics)

text: This equation represents a circle with center (1/8, 9/4) and radius formula_6. It is the circle of Apollonius defined by these values of "k", "A", and "B".


title: Locus (mathematics)

text: "C"("x", "y") is the variable third vertex. The center of ["BC"] is "M"((2"x" + "c")/4, "y"/2). The median from "C" has a slope "y"/"x". The median "AM" has slope 2"y"/(2"x" + 3"c").


title: Locus (mathematics)

text: A locus can also be defined by two associated curves depending on one common parameter. If the parameter varies, the intersection points of the associated curves describe the locus.


title: Locus (mathematics)

text: In the figure, the points "K" and "L" are fixed points on a given line "m". The line "k" is a variable line through "K". The line "l" through "L" is perpendicular to "k". The angle formula_12 between "k" and "m" is the parameter.


title: Locus (mathematics)

text: "k" and "l" are associated lines depending on the common parameter. The variable intersection point "S" of "k" and "l" describes a circle. This circle is the locus of the intersection point of the two associated lines.


title: Locus (mathematics)

text: A locus of points need not be one-dimensional (as a circle, line, etc.). For example, the locus of the inequality is the portion of the plane that is below the line of equation .


title: Bally's Corporation

text: Bally's Corporation is a gaming, betting, and interactive entertainment company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. It owns and operates 15 casinos across ten states, a horse track in Colorado, and online sports betting operations in 14 states. Additionally, the company owns the sports betting platform Bet.Works, daily fantasy sports operator Monkey Knife Fight, and SportCaller, a free-to-play game provider.


title: Bally's Corporation

text: The company was founded in 2004 as BLB Investors. It eventually changed its name to Twin River Worldwide Holdings. In 2020, the company acquired the rights to the Bally's brand from Caesars Entertainment and changed its own name to Bally's Corporation.


title: Bally's Corporation

text: Bally's originated as BLB Investors. BLB was formed in 2004 as a joint venture between Starwood Capital Group, Kerzner International, and the Waterford Group for the purpose of launching a bid to acquire Wembley plc. Wembley was a British operator of racetracks in the United Kingdom and the United States, whose primary asset was Lincoln Park, a greyhound track and slot machine parlor in Rhode Island. BLB reached a deal in February 2005, agreeing to pay $435 million for Lincoln Park, plus $20 million for Wembley's other U.S. properties, comprising a horse track (Arapahoe Park) and three greyhound tracks in Colorado. The purchase closed in July 2005.


title: Bally's Corporation

text: By 2008, as a result of the global economic recession, BLB was struggling financially and began defaulting on loans related to the purchase and renovation of Twin River. In June 2009, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with a prepackaged plan to hand over ownership to its creditors. The company emerged from bankruptcy in 2010, now owned by a syndicate of lenders led by Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Sankaty Advisors. In 2011, the company changed its name to Twin River Worldwide Holdings.


title: Bally's Corporation

text: In Colorado, the company's three dog racing tracks closed as interest in the sport declined, and all three were sold off by 2011.


title: Bally's Corporation

text: In 2014, Twin River bought the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Biloxi in Mississippi from Leucadia National for $250 million. The acquisition was made to diversify the company geographically, in preparation for expected competition from Massachusetts, which had legalized casinos in 2011.


title: Bally's Corporation

text: In 2015, Twin River purchased Rhode Island's only other casino, the Newport Grand, for $22 million, and announced plans to relocate its operations to a new facility to be built in Tiverton, Rhode Island. The Newport Grand closed in 2018, and its replacement, the $140-million Tiverton Casino Hotel, opened days later.


title: Bally's Corporation

text: In 2016, hedge fund Standard General took an ownership stake in Twin River, and its principal partner, Soo Kim, took a seat on the board. Kim went on to become Twin River's chairman in 2019, and began leading the company through a rapid expansion.


title: Bally's Corporation

text: In March 2019, Twin River completed a reverse merger with Dover Downs Gaming & Entertainment, the parent company of Dover Downs Hotel & Casino. The transaction made Twin River a public company traded on the New York Stock Exchange and left Dover Downs shareholders with a 7 percent stake in the combined company.


title: Bally's Corporation

text: In January 2020, Twin River purchased three casinos in Black Hawk, Colorado (the Golden Gates, Golden Gulch, and Mardi Gras) from Affinity Gaming for $51 million.


title: Bally's Corporation

text: In July 2020, Twin River bought two casinos in Missouri and Mississippi (Isle of Capri Casino Kansas City and Lady Luck Casino Vicksburg) from Eldorado Resorts for $230 million. They were renamed Casino KC and Casino Vicksburg.


title: Bally's Corporation

text: Later that month, Twin River acquired the rights to the Bally's brand from Caesars Entertainment for $20 million. At the time, Twin River said that it would rebrand "virtually all" of its properties under the Bally's name. In November 2020, the company changed its name to Bally's Corporation and its stock ticker symbol to BALY. Days later, the company closed on purchasing Bally's Atlantic City from Caesars and Vici Properties for $25 million.


title: Bally's Corporation

text: Bally's acquired the Eldorado Shreveport casino hotel in Louisiana from Eldorado Resorts in December 2020 for $140 million.