title: Asadora!

text: "Asadora!" tells the story of Asa Asada's life, starting in post-war Japan, and spanning into the then-present year 2020, when a large monster rampages through Tokyo. The story begins in 1959 when Asa looks for a doctor for her mother in labor, only for her to run into a burglar and held for ransom. When Typhoon Vera hits Japan, Asa and her kidnapper must work together to survive.


title: Asadora!

text: In 1959, just moments before Typhoon Vera makes landfall at the Port of Nagoya, 12-year-old Asa Asada frantically seeks help from a local obstetrician to help deliver her mother's twelfth child. When she witnesses Kasuga attempting a burglary during the storm, Asa is mistaken as a member of the doctor's family and is taken hostage. When Kasuga realizes his mistake, he regrets his actions, blaming his hard luck after returning from World War II as bomber pilot. He protects Asa from the storm's damage, and the pair work together to distribute food to flood victims by flying a stolen airplane.


title: Asadora!

text: As they search the area for Asa's home, they see a large monster's footprint in the debris. Kasuga and Asa locate two of her siblings stranded on a rooftop with the obstetrician, who is holding a newborn child. Asa saves them from the monster, but discovers that Kasuga is wounded. He guides Asa as she flies the plane back to land, and Asa confesses her wish to keep the airplane. Asa attempts to blackmail the plane's owner, who is secretly using the aircraft to smuggle drugs, and he signs over the plane to her before going into police custody.


title: Asadora!

text: Five years later, Asa is 17 years old and operating an aircraft company with Kasuga. Kasuga is visited by Colonel Shissoji, a former military commander, who shows him a recent photo of the same monster they encountered years earlier. Attempting to research the monster on her own, Asa meets young scholar Keiichi Nakaido at the National Museum of Nature and Science, who has photo evidence of the monster among the disorganized research left by his mentor, Shinnosuke Yodogawa. Colonel Shissoji gives Asa and Kasuga a secret mission to protect the opening ceremonies of the 1964 Olympic Games by converting their aircraft into a makeshift fighter plane. Meanwhile, Asa is pressured by her school friend Yoneko to accompany her to Tokyo for a singing audition, keeping it secret from their close friend Miyako. Restaurant owner Kinuyo, now acting as the remaining Asada children's adoptive mother, defends them against local bullies when the youngest child, Koshichi, claims to remember seeing the monster even though he was less than a day old during the typhoon.


title: Asadora!

text: Meanwhile, the monster emerges in Sagami Bay, one day before the start of the Olympics. Colonel Shissoji collects Asa from school to bring her to the airfield in preparation to face the monster. Kasuga is unreachable after chasing a newspaper photographer away from the airfield, which results in an accident. Asa decides to fly the mission herself, but Nakaido insists on accompanying her so he can study the monster up close. Yoneko skips school to meet a talent agent but is secretly followed by Miyako.


title: Asadora!

text: When Asa and Nakaido confront the monster, they evade its attacks and launch the aircraft's makeshift rockets, but the monster is unharmed. Asa decides to drop bags of fuel on it, lighting the gasoline on fire with her signal flare. The monster is wounded and chases after Asa, who leads it back out into the ocean away from coast. When Asa's plane goes too far out to sea, Kasuga appears in a second aircraft to guide her back to land. Yoneko's audition puts her in an uncomfortable situation, but Nakaido's uncle Eisaku arrives at Asa's request to chaperone her. The agent and Eisaku team together to change Yoneko's image to resemble to Marilyn Monroe, but she rejects their efforts and returns home. Miyako is rescued from street thugs by Ginko and Susie, two female wrestlers.


title: Asadora!

text: Following the opening ceremonies, Colonel Shissoji enlists Asa and Kasuga to stay on call in case of another monster attack. Shotaro's family pushes him to simulate the marathon competition during the actual event. Young SDF Lieutenant Kosugi suspects the government is covering up a kaiju attack and fakes an emergency on his naval cruiser to take a closer look.


title: Asadora!

text: Naoki Urasawa had the initial idea for "Asadora!" after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. Wanting a hero that would give readers hope, the author said the main character naturally became a woman because when he draws males the story tends to get dark and depressing. Wanting this character to confront a "certain crisis" at the 1964 Summer Olympics via airplane, she had to be 17-years-old at that point to get a pilot's license. Additionally, while researching Urasawa stumbled upon the 1959 Isewan Typhoon, during which time the girl would be 12, and decided it would be "nice" to begin the story with a 12-year-old girl. This also made Nagoya the setting for the manga. Yuki Takanami, editor of the French version of the series for Kana, stated that its title is a reference to NHK's "Renzoku Terebi Shōsetsu" television dramas, which are colloquially known as ""asadora"" and often follow the life of a female protagonist from childhood to adulthood.


title: Asadora!

text: The sense of fulfillment Urasawa felt after doing all the backgrounds, inking, erasing, and screentones on the short story "" led to him doing a lot of the background work on "Asadora!" by himself, in addition to the main character illustration.


title: Asadora!

text: "Asadora!" is written and illustrated by Naoki Urasawa. The manga began in Shogakukan's "Weekly Big Comic Spirits" on October 6, 2018. "Asadora!" is Urasawa's first work published digitally and his first work in the magazine since "21st Century Boys", serialized in 2007. The series' first arc finished in January 2019, and it went on hiatus until May of the same year. The series went on hiatus again in August 2019 and resumed publication in October of the same year. Shogakukan has compiled its chapters into individual "tankōbon" volumes. The first volume was published on March 29, 2019. As of November 30, 2022, seven volumes have been published.


title: Asadora!

text: In North America, Viz Media announced the English release of the manga in July 2020. The first volume was published on January 19, 2021. The manga has also been licensed in France by Kana and in Italy by Panini Comics.


title: Asadora!

text: "Asadora!" won Best Series at the 2021 Lucca Comics Awards in Italy. It was also nominated for 2021's Young Adults Best Comic Award at the 48th Angoulême International Comics Festival in France and for Best Manga at the Harvey Awards in the United States. Due to depicting the Isewan Typhoon, "Asadora!" was used as part of an exhibit at the Nagoya City Minato Disaster Prevention Center.


title: Asadora!

text: After reading the first volume, South Korean film director Bong Joon-ho wrote that "Asa's wise expression and dignified demeanor already gives me hope and strong expectations", and called Urasawa "the greatest storyteller of our time". He likened the experience of reading "Asadora!" to that of being able to go back and read "20th Century Boys" for the first time again.


title: Asadora!

text: Rebecca Silverman of "Anime News Network" gave the first volume an A− grade. She wrote: "This is a very solid work. Asa is the kind of spitfire heroine that's easy to get behind." Reuben Baron of "Comic Book Resources" said, "As a piece of historical fiction, "Asadora!" is so convincing that it's almost a surprise once the science fiction elements pop up again in the last two pages of the book."


title: DS 9

text: The DS 9 is an executive car introduced in 2020 by DS. The DS 9 is the company's first vehicle to be marketed to both Europe and Asia but assembled solely in China.


title: DS 9

text: Originally, the DS 9 (internal code X83) was to be unveiled in April 2019 at Auto Shanghai, but its presentation was postponed for the first time in November for Auto Guangzhou in China, then a second time until March 2020.


title: DS 9

text: Following the end of the Changan PSA Automobiles (CAPSA) joint venture of PSA and Changan Automobile, Baoneng Group which took over the Shenzhen plant where Chinese DS are built, signed an agreement to produce DS, including the next DS 9 in Shenzhen. On 20 February 2020, DS announced the imminent presentation of a new model.


title: DS 9

text: The DS 9 was unveiled to the press on 27 February 2020, and was due to make its first public appearance at the 90th edition of the Geneva Motor Show on 3 March 2020. The Swiss show, however, was cancelled at the last moment due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike the DS 7 Crossback, which is produced both in France and in China, the DS 9 is assembled only in China by Baoneng's Shenzhen factory.


title: DS 9

text: The DS 9 is based on the EMP2 modular technical platform of Groupe PSA. Its dashboard is largely inspired by that of the DS 7 Crossback.


title: DS 9

text: The DS sedan will be offered only in turbo gasoline 1.6 & eTense Hybrid (PHEV) version, with the 1.6 turbo petrol engine and an electric motor. The combined system output here in the DS 9 sedan will be . The 225 PS variant will be joined later by FWD and AWD eTense variants.


title: Lists of countries by GDP per capita

text: Lists of countries by GDP per capita list the countries in the world by their gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. The lists may be based on nominal or purchasing power parity GDP. Gross national income (GNI) per capita accounts for inflows and outflows of foreign capital. Income inequality metrics measure the distribution of income between rich and poor.


title: Dutch orthography

text: Dutch orthography uses the Latin alphabet. The spelling system is issued by government decree and is compulsory for all government documentation and educational establishments.


title: Dutch orthography

text: In the Netherlands, the official spelling is regulated by the Spelling Act of 15 September 2005. This came into force on 22 February 2006, replacing the Act on the Spelling of the Dutch Language of 14 February 1947.


title: Dutch orthography

text: The Spelling Act gives the Committee of Ministers of the Dutch Language Union the authority to determine the spelling of Dutch by ministerial decision. In addition, the law requires that this spelling be followed "at the governmental bodies, at educational institutions funded from the public purse, as well as at the exams for which legal requirements have been established". In other cases, it is recommended, but it is not mandatory to follow the official spelling.


title: Dutch orthography

text: The Decree on the Spelling Regulations 2005 of 2006 contains the annexed spelling rules decided by the Committee of Ministers on 25 April 2005. This decree entered into force on August 1, 2006, replacing the Spelling Decree of June 19, 1996.


title: Dutch orthography

text: In Flanders, the same spelling rules are currently applied by the Decree of the Flemish Government Establishing the Rules of the Official Spelling and Grammar of the Dutch language of 30 June 2006.


title: Dutch orthography

text: The modern Dutch alphabet, used for the Dutch language, consists of the 26 letters of the ISO basic Latin alphabet. Depending on how is used, six (or five) letters are vowels and 20 (or 21) letters are consonants. Also note that, in some aspects, the digraph "" behaves as a single letter. is the most frequently used letter in the Dutch alphabet, as it is in English. The least frequently used letters are and , similar to English.


title: Dutch orthography

text: Dutch uses the following letters and letter combinations. Note that for simplicity, dialectal variation and subphonemic distinctions are not always indicated. See Dutch phonology for more information.


title: Dutch orthography

text: The following list shows letters and combinations, along with their pronunciations, found in modern native or nativised vocabulary:


title: Dutch orthography

text: The following additional letters and pronunciations appear in non-native vocabulary or words using older, obsolete spellings (often conserved in proper names):


title: Dutch orthography

text: Loanwords often keep their original spellings: 'gift' (from French) (this word is also informally written "kado", but this spelling is not recognized by the standard spelling dictionary). are sometimes adapted to , but (and rarely ) are usually retained. Greek letters become , not , but usually becomes (except before a consonant, after and word finally). -- in French loanwords are written with a single ("mayonaise") except when a schwa follows ("stationnement").


title: Dutch orthography

text: Vowel length is always indicated but in different ways by using an intricate system of single and double letters.


title: Dutch orthography

text: Old Dutch possessed phonemic consonant length in addition to phonemic vowel length, with no correspondence between them. Thus, long vowels could appear in closed syllables, and short vowels could occur in open syllables. In the transition to early Middle Dutch, short vowels were lengthened when they stood in open syllables. Short vowels could now occur only in closed syllables. Consonants could still be long in pronunciation and acted to close the preceding syllable. Therefore, any short vowel that was followed by a long consonant remained short.


title: Dutch orthography

text: The spelling system used by early Middle Dutch scribes accounted for that by indicating the vowel length only when it was necessary (sometimes by writing a double vowel but also in other ways). As the length was implicit in open syllables, it was not indicated there, and only a single vowel was written. Long consonants were indicated usually by writing the consonant letter double, which meant that a short vowel was always followed by at least two consonant letters or by just one consonant at the end of a word.


title: Dutch orthography

text: Later in Middle Dutch, the distinction between short and long consonants started to disappear. That made it possible for short vowels to appear in open syllables once again. Because there was no longer a phonetic distinction between single and double consonants (they were both pronounced short now), Dutch writers started to use double consonants to indicate that the preceding vowel was short even when the consonant had not been long in the past. That eventually led to the modern Dutch spelling system.


title: Dutch orthography

text: Modern Dutch spelling still retains many of the details of the late Middle Dutch system. The distinction between checked and free vowels is important in Dutch spelling. A checked vowel is one that is followed by a consonant in the same syllable (the syllable is closed) while a free vowel ends the syllable (the syllable is open). This distinction can apply to pronunciation or spelling independently, but a syllable that is checked in pronunciation will always be checked in spelling as well (except in some unassimilated loanwords).


title: Dutch orthography

text: A single vowel that is checked in neither is always long/tense. A vowel that is checked in both is always short/lax. The following table shows the pronunciation of the same three-letter sequence in different situations, with hyphens indicating the syllable divisions in the written form, and the IPA period to indicate them in the spoken form:


title: Dutch orthography

text: Free is fairly rare and is mostly confined to loanwords and names. As tense is rare except before , free is likewise rare except before .


title: Dutch orthography

text: The same rule applies to word-final vowels, which are always long because they are not followed by any consonant (but see below on ). Short vowels, not followed by any consonant, do not normally exist in Dutch, and there is no normal way to indicate them in the spelling.


title: Dutch orthography

text: When a vowel is short/lax but is free in pronunciation, the spelling is made checked by writing the following consonant doubled, so that the vowel is kept short according to the default rules. That has no effect on pronunciation, as modern Dutch does not have long consonants:


title: Dutch orthography

text: When a vowel is long/tense but still checked in pronunciation, it is necessarily checked in spelling as well. A change is thus needed to indicate the length, which is done by writing the vowel doubled. Doubled does not occur.


title: Dutch orthography

text: A single indicates short and long e but is also used to indicate the neutral schwa sound in unstressed syllables. Because the schwa is always short, is never followed by a double consonant when it represents .


title: Dutch orthography

text: A word-final long is written (or in some loanwords), as an exception to the normal rules. That means that a word-final single will always represent a schwa.


title: Dutch orthography

text: Because the position of the stress in a polysyllabic word is not indicated in the spelling, that can lead to ambiguity. Some pairs of words are spelled the same, but represents either stressed or or unstressed , depending on how the stress is placed.


title: Dutch orthography

text: The length of a vowel generally does not change in the pronunciation of different forms of a word. However, in different forms of a word, a syllable may alternate between checked and free depending on the syllable that follows. The spelling rules nonetheless follow the simplest representation, writing double letters only when necessary. Consequently, some forms of the same word may be written with single letters while others are written with double letters. That commonly occurs between the singular and plural of a noun or between the infinitive and the conjugated forms of verbs. Examples of alternations are shown below. Note that there are no examples with because free does not occur in native words:


title: Dutch orthography

text: There are some irregular nouns that change their vowel from short/lax in the singular to long/tense in the plural. Their spelling does not alternate between single and double letters. However, the sound becomes in the plural in such nouns, not That is reflected in the spelling.


title: Dutch orthography

text: As a rule, the simplest representation is always chosen. A double vowel is never written in an open syllable, and a double consonant is never written at the end of a word or when next to another consonant. A double vowel is rarely followed by a double consonant, as it could be simplified by writing them both single.


title: Dutch orthography

text: The past tense of verbs may have a double vowel, followed by a double consonant, to distinguish those forms from the present tense.


title: Dutch orthography

text: Compounds should be read as if each word were spelled separately, and they may therefore appear to violate the normal rules. That may sometimes cause confusion if the word is not known to be a compound.


title: Dutch orthography

text: Final devoicing is not indicated in Dutch spelling; words are usually spelled according to the historically original consonant. Therefore, a word may be written with a letter for a voiced consonant at the end of a word but still be pronounced with a voiceless consonant:


title: Dutch orthography

text: Weak verbs form their past tense and past participle by addition of a dental, or depending on the voicing of the preceding consonant(s) (see Assimilation (linguistics)). However, because final consonants are always devoiced, there is no difference in pronunciation between these in the participle. Nonetheless, in accordance with the above rules, the orthography operates as if the consonant were still voiced. It is written in the past participle the same as the other past tense forms in which it is not word-final. To help memorise when to write and when , Dutch students are taught the rule "'t kofschip is met thee beladen" ("the merchant ship is loaded with tea"). If the verb stem in the infinitive ends with one of the consonants of "'t kofschip" (-t, -k, -f, -s, -ch or -p), the past tense dental is a -t-; otherwise, it is a -d-. However, the rule also applies to loanwords ending in -c, -q or -x, as these are also voiceless.


title: Dutch orthography

text: However, and are also written at the end of a syllable that is not final. The pronunciation remains voiced even if the spelling shows a voiceless consonant. This is most common in the past tense forms of weak verbs:


title: Dutch orthography

text: Compare this to verbs in which the final consonant is underlyingly voiceless. Here, the dental assimilation rule calls for the ending "-te", which gives away the voicelessness of the previous sound even if the spelling of that sound itself does not:


title: Dutch orthography

text: Some modern loanwords and new coinages do not follow these rules. However, these words tend to not follow the other spelling rules as well: "buzzen" ("to page (call on a pager)") → "buzz" ("(I) page"), "buzzde" ("(I) paged").


title: Dutch orthography

text: Dutch uses the acute accent to mark stress and the diaeresis (trema) to disambiguate diphthongs/triphthongs. Occasionally, other diacritics are used in loanwords. Accents are not necessarily placed on capital letters (for example, the word "Eén" at the beginning of a sentence) unless the whole word is written in capitals.


title: Dutch orthography

text: Acute accents may be used to emphasise a word in a phrase, on the vowel in the stressed syllable. If the vowel is written as a digraph, an acute accent is put on both parts of the digraph. Although that rule includes "ij", the acute accent on the j is frequently omitted in typing (resulting in íj instead of íj́), as putting an acute accent on a j is still problematic in most word processing software. If the vowel is written as more than two letters, the accent is put on the first two vowel letters – except when the first letter is a capital one. According to the Taalunie, accents on capital letters are used only in all caps and in loanwords. So, it is correct to write "één", "Eén", and "ÉÉN", but not to write "Één". The Genootschap Onze Taal states that accents can be put on capital letters whenever the need arises, but makes an exception for "Eén".


title: Dutch orthography

text: Stress on a short vowel, written with only one letter, is occasionally marked with a grave accent: "Kàn jij dat?" (equivalent to the example below), "wèl". However, it is technically incorrect to do so.


title: Dutch orthography

text: Additionally, the acute accent may also be used to mark different meanings of various words, including "een/één" (a(n)/one), "voor/vóór" (for/before), "vóórkomen/voorkómen" (to occur/to prevent), and "vérstrekkend/verstrékkend" (far-reaching/issuing), as shown in the examples below.


title: Dutch orthography

text: A diaeresis is used to mark a hiatus, if the combination of vowel letters may be either mistaken for a digraph or interpreted in more than one way: "geïnd" (collected), "geüpload" (uploaded), "egoïstisch" (egoistic), "sympathieën" (sympathies, preferences), coördinaat (coordinate), "reëel" (realistic), "zeeën" (seas). On a line break that separates the vowels but keeps parts of a digraph together, the diaeresis becomes redundant and so is not written: ego-/istisch, sympathie-/en, re-/eel, zee-/en. The rule can be extended to names, such as "Michaëlla", e.g. Michaëlla Krajicek. The diaeresis is only used in derivational suffixes; compounds are written with a hyphen, for example "auto-ongeluk" (car accident).


title: Dutch orthography

text: The grave accent is used in some French loanwords and generally when pronunciation would be wrong without it, such as "après-ski", "barrière" (barrier), "bèta", "caissière" (female cashier), "carrière" (career) and "hè?" ("What?"), "blèren" (to yell). Officially, "appel" is always written without an accent, but sometimes an accent is used to distinguish between "appel" ("apple") and "appèl" ("appeal", "roll call", and others).


title: Dutch orthography

text: Besides being used to mark stress, acute accents are also used in many loanwords (mainly from French) such as "logé" (overnight guest), "coupé" (train compartment), "oké" (okay) and "café".


title: Dutch orthography

text: Similarly, a circumflex accent is also used in some French loanwords, including "enquête" (survey), and "fêteren" (to treat). For "gênant" (embarrassing) it is indecisive, some sources state it should be without the accent since it makes no difference to the pronunciation, others prefer to use the accent. The circumflex accent is also used in West Frisian Dutch and so in general Dutch as well if there is no translation. "Skûtsjesilen" is the most common example, where "silen" is West Frisian Dutch for "zeilen" (to sail) and a "skûtsje" is a specific type of sailboat.


title: Dutch orthography

text: Contrary to the city of Den Haag, ’s-Hertogenbosch has decided to retain the more formal orthography of its name for common communication like road signing.


title: Dutch orthography

text: Except in all caps, the letter immediately following a word-initial apostrophe is not capitalised. If necessary, the second word is capitalised instead:


title: Michael Tritter

text: Detective Michael Tritter is a recurring fictional character in the medical drama series "House", portrayed by David Morse. He is the main antagonist of the third season, which ran between 2006 and 2007. Tritter is a police detective, who tries to get Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie) to apologize for leaving him in an examination room with a thermometer in his rectum. After House refuses to apologize, Tritter researches House's background and discovers his Vicodin addiction. Tritter turns people close to House against him and forces House to go to rehab. When the case ultimately comes to court, the judge sentences House to one night in jail, for contempt of court, and to finish his rehabilitation, telling Tritter that she believes House is not the drug addict he tried to make him out to be.


title: Michael Tritter

text: Morse, who had never seen the show before, was unsure if he could portray the character and was not impressed after familiarizing himself with the show. The excited reaction of his friends to the opportunity convinced him to take the role. Initial critical responses to the character were mostly positive, but critics later felt that the six-episode Tritter story arc became "boring". Morse, though, was praised for his portrayal and received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his appearance in the episode "Finding Judas". Morse stated in a 2006 "TV Guide" interview that, although he had discussed it with writers of the show, bringing the character back on the show would be "practically impossible".


title: Michael Tritter

text: Tritter first appears in the episode "Fools for Love". His character is a police detective who suffers from a severe irritation in the area of his groin, which he believes to be caused by a sexually transmitted disease, and who becomes a patient of the walk-in clinic. Although House diagnoses Tritter with dry skin, a common side effect of the nicotine gum that Tritter is chewing, Tritter requests that a sample be tested. House declines on the grounds that he has already met this month's quota for indulging "stubborn idiots". After Tritter causes House to trip, the doctor feigns acquiescence, but insists he has to take Tritter's temperature rectally due to the nicotine gum. After inserting the thermometer, House leaves the room, with no intention of returning. Tritter later complains about his treatment to House's boss, Lisa Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein), saying that he would rather "beat the crap out of" House than sue him; however, House refuses to apologize. Later that night, Tritter pulls House over for a traffic violation and arrests him after finding Vicodin pills in his pocket.


title: Michael Tritter

text: In the next episode, "Que Será Será", Tritter searches House's apartment and finds a large quantity of Vicodin pills and two apparently forged prescriptions that bear the name of House's friend James Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard). During "Son of Coma Guy" and "Whac-A-Mole", Tritter pressures Wilson and members of House's diagnostic team to testify against him, but they all refuse. In "Finding Judas", Cuddy finds Tritter spending his day off looking through the hospital's log for evidence against House. She accuses him of not having a life and "personalizing every slight". Tritter responds that "nobody [at the hospital] is innocent", as everyone allows House to treat patients despite knowing of his Vicodin addiction and that it takes a police detective to uncover what the doctors are deliberately hiding. At the end of the episode, Wilson visits Tritter and indicates his willingness to testify.


title: Michael Tritter

text: In "Merry Little Christmas", Tritter and Wilson work out a deal to allow House to continue practicing medicine if he pleads guilty and spends two months in rehab. Meanwhile, House uses a dead patient's name to obtain Oxycodone pills as a Vicodin replacement drug, but nearly overdoses on the drug as he is unaccustomed to its effects. When he visits Tritter early the next morning to agree to the deal, Tritter says the deal is off, after going through the pharmacy's log and reading that House signed for a dead man's drugs.


title: Michael Tritter

text: In the final days leading up to House's court case, House realizes the severity of the situation and finally apologizes to Tritter (episode "Words and Deeds"). When Tritter refuses to accept the apology, House goes into rehab, putting on a show for Tritter and the judge, but Tritter cites his experiences with addicts as evidence House has not changed. The judge tells Tritter that she does not believe House to be the drug dealer that Tritter tried to show him to be and orders Tritter to move on after House is exonerated due to Cuddy committing perjury. Just before the bailiff escorts House out of the courtroom, Tritter tells him: "Good luck. I hope I'm wrong about you."


title: Michael Tritter

text: The main antagonist of the third season, Tritter is a "stubborn", "vengeful", and extremely determined police detective. According to David Morse, the offensive thermometer incident in "Fools for Love" made it easy for Tritter to stand up to House; as House's equal, Tritter "gets who House is on all levels and can really shake his foundation". Tritter's experiences with drug addicts color his view of House, and he becomes so obsessed with House that, according to executive producer Katie Jacobs, the story arc turns into "a battle of egos" between them. The character shows a manipulative streak when he forms a plan to coerce each member of House's team to testify separately in "Finding Judas". Robert Bianco of "USA Today" described Tritter as an initially "legitimately, if belligerently, aggrieved adversary" character who later morphs into "some kind of insane supercop, tearing his way through the hospital and the Constitution at will".


title: Michael Tritter

text: The Tritter character was created as someone to go "toe-to-toe" with House. The producers envisioned a character with an inner strength, intelligence, and single-mindedness to match that of House. In 2006, "House" creator David Shore contacted actor David Morse, with whom he had previously worked on "Hack", for a guest-starring episode arc on the show. According to Ellen Gray of the "Philadelphia Daily News", Morse's earlier portrayals of "scary" cops (in "16 Blocks" and "Hack") helped him clinch the role.


title: Michael Tritter

text: Morse was unfamiliar with the show. After watching several "House" episodes, he was surprised that the show had a strong audience with "[such] a total jerk" as the lead character. It was not until Morse told a few long-time friends about the job offer that their enthusiastic reaction convinced him to take the role. Katie Jacobs, executive producer of "House", was impressed by Morse's performance. In a 2006 "TV Guide" interview, Morse said that, although he discussed the possibility with "House" writers, it would be "practically impossible" to get the character to return in any later seasons.


title: Michael Tritter

text: Initial responses to the character were mostly positive. Maureen Ryan of the "Chicago Tribune" declared Tritter the best male villain of the fall of 2006. Lisa Edelstein, who portrays Lisa Cuddy on "House", named David Morse as one of her favorite "House" guest stars, saying that he did a great job portraying the character. Barbara Barnett from "Blog Critics Magazine" and Charles McGrath of "The New York Times" compared Tritter to Inspector Javert of "Les Misérables", and Alynda Wheat from "Entertainment Weekly" stated that Tritter annoyed House more than any other character, surpassing other antagonists such as Amber Volakis (Anne Dudek), Stacy Warner (Sela Ward), and Lucas Douglas (Michael Weston). "Variety"s Stuart Levine considered Tritter a "worthy foe" for House.


title: Michael Tritter

text: However, the continued character arc increasingly bored critics. Staci Krause of IGN found the first few episodes of Season 3, in which House recovers from being shot, more interesting. In a review of "Que Sera Sera", "Entertainment Weekly"s Michelle Kung noted that while David Morse is a fine actor, "his cop is so ridiculously one-note and revenge-bent that his scenes are often just excruciating to sit through". In a review for "Fools for Love", Sara Morrison of Television Without Pity doubted that Tritter's revenge on House was worth his time and aggravation, and later called the Tritter arc an "insane quest for ass-thermometer justice". "The Star-Ledger"s Alan Sepinwall stated that "pitting House against a comedy-impaired cop was both dull and not a fair fight".


title: Michael Tritter

text: The show's fans had shown dislike for other antagonists with multi-episode guest-starring arcs, and critics suspected that Tritter's character would receive similar disdain. The conclusion of the storyline, and Tritter's departure from the show, were described by "USA Today" critic Robert Bianco as a Christmas gift for fans of the show. Morse jokingly stated after his departure that various fans had told him of their hate for Tritter after what the character had done to Dr. House.


title: Michael Tritter

text: Morse, however, gained mainly positive responses to his portrayal of Tritter. "The Star-Ledger"s Alan Sepinwall called Morse a "superb actor", and Maureen Ryan of the "Chicago Tribune" stated that Morse's "understated performance" made Tritter all the more scary. Zap2it's Daniel Fienberg regarded Morse as "one of our very best character actors". Cynthia Littleton of "Variety", who already considered Morse's work in "St. Elsewhere" Emmy-worthy, was glad that Morse's submission of the episode "Finding Judas" for a 2007 Emmy Awards consideration was accepted in the category of "Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series". The award eventually went to John Goodman for "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip".


title: Fluke (film)

text: Fluke is a 1995 fantasy drama film directed by Carlo Carlei and starring Matthew Modine as the voice of the title character with supporting roles featuring Eric Stoltz, Nancy Travis, Max Pomeranc, Bill Cobbs, Ron Perlman, Jon Polito and Samuel L. Jackson as the voice of Rumbo. The film was based on the 1977 novel of the same name by James Herbert.


title: Fluke (film)

text: A mutt puppy who has flashing memories and dreams of having lived a human life is taken to a pound and eventually escapes. He is raised by an elderly homeless woman named Bella, who gives him the name Fluke, stating that he is a "fluke by nature, Fluke by name." Fluke supports Bella by helping her earn money from passing strangers, who are impressed with Fluke's ability to beat Bella's shell game.


title: Fluke (film)

text: After Bella dies of an illness, Fluke meets a street-wise dog named Rumbo who takes him to see a man named Bert who feeds them. Fluke matures into an adult dog and eventually realizes that he was once a man named Thomas P. Johnson, who died in a car crash.


title: Fluke (film)

text: Fluke is abducted by a man named Sylvester to be used in makeup experiments at a cosmetics company. During his captivity, Rumbo comes to the rescue, but is shot by Sylvester as he and Fluke escape. A dying Rumbo tells Fluke that the black-and-white snapshot of a man in a sailor suit on Bert's wall was him and Bert was his brother and that he wishes to smell the sea again, suggesting that he died in the line of duty.


title: Fluke (film)

text: After Rumbo's death, Fluke seeks out his surviving wife Carol and son Brian and reunites with them by becoming their new family dog. Though Carol is apprehensive about adopting Fluke, she caves in seeing how Brian has quickly bonded with Fluke. During his life as a dog, Fluke gets to know his family better and realizes that he had been a distant workaholic.


title: Fluke (film)

text: As more memories return, Fluke suspects that his human death was caused by his former business partner Jeff Newman. Enraged by this and that Jeff is now dating Carol, Fluke viciously attacks him when he visits the house, and ends up getting put outside. Jeff calls for Animal Control against the protests of Brian, and Fluke is forced to run from the premises.


title: Fluke (film)

text: The next night, Brian goes missing while looking for Fluke and Carol implores Jeff to help, so Jeff drives back to their house. Fluke, hiding in the backseat of Jeff's car, comes close to killing Jeff by causing him to get into a car accident like his own. Fluke then has another flashback and realizes that Jeff wasn't responsible for his death. Instead, Fluke had caused his own death when he recklessly drove on the wrong side of the road just to argue with Jeff one night and swerved off to avoid hitting an oncoming truck. Jeff later tried to save him but failed. An injured Jeff, implied to have realized Fluke's true identity but bearing no ill will, tells Fluke to go find Brian before the latter catches hypothermia from the falling snow. Regretful over his actions, Fluke barks for a passing driver to help Jeff before running off.


title: Fluke (film)

text: On a hunch, Fluke goes to the graveyard where he had been buried and finds Brian there, who had been locked in by an unaware groundskeeper. Fluke huddles with Brian to keep him warm. Carol, deducing from one of Brian's drawings where he may have gone, uses her car to break open the cemetery gates and picks up Brian. Carol tries to coax Fluke to come home with them. Instead, Fluke digs away at the snow in front of his tombstone to show Carol who he really is by uncovering the word "forever" at the bottom, a phrase he often said to her as a human. Carol is left speechless, and lets Fluke leave without objection. With a heavy heart, Fluke departs and entrusts his family to Jeff for their happiness. He monologues that he finally accepted that he can no longer be the family man he should have been, and that he should just cherish the life he has now.


title: Fluke (film)

text: Sometime later, Fluke is resting under a tree on a farm by himself. To his surprise and happiness, he is reunited with Rumbo, now reincarnated as a squirrel. Rumbo tells Fluke about life as a squirrel and about reincarnation.


title: Fluke (film)

text: "Fluke" underperformed at the box office, generating just under $4 million in America. "Fluke" was released on VHS on November 21, 1995 and LaserDisc on November 28, 1995 by MGM/UA Home Video in North America (which was presented in the theatrical version and available exclusively through Warner Home Video). "Fluke" was also released on VHS on November 5, 1996 by MGM/UA Family Entertainment in North America (which has been edited for family viewing and was also available exclusively through Warner Home Video). In Japan, "Fluke" was released on VHS on July 5, 1996 by Warner Home Video under the MGM/UA Family Entertainment label (which was presented in the theatrical version).


title: Fluke (film)

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 25% rating based on 12 reviews with an average rating of 3.8/10. However, it was nominated in 1996 by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films for Best Fantasy Film and Best Performance by a Younger Actor for Max Pomeranc.


title: Matt Saracen

text: Matthew "Matt" Saracen is a fictional character in the NBC/DirecTV (The 101 Network) television drama series "Friday Night Lights" portrayed by the actor Zach Gilford. He is the former backup quarterback of the Dillon High School Panthers before being thrust into the starting spotlight after Jason Street suffers a career-ending injury. His character is based on Chris Comer from and the 2004 film.


title: Matt Saracen

text: Matt is the son of Henry Saracen and Shelby Garrett. He lives alone with his grandmother, Lorraine Saracen. Matt takes care of Lorraine due to her old age and battle with dementia. At one time, Matt's relationship with both of his parents was strained. His father, Henry, was in the U.S. Army and his mother, Shelby, left Matt when he was a child after divorcing Henry. The full extent of their relationship is unknown, but it is implied that Henry may have been an abusive husband.


title: Matt Saracen

text: He is the back-up quarterback for the Dillon Panthers in the ”Pilot” as a sophomore. Eventually, he is the starting quarterback for the Dillion Panthers in seasons 1 and 2. He then becomes a wide receiver for the Dillon Panthers in season 3, his senior year. He is a main character in seasons 1 through 3 and continues to play an important role in the series throughout seasons 4 and 5.


title: Matt Saracen

text: In season 1, when Henry is first introduced, the difficult relationship between father and son is revealed. Throughout the show, it is shown that Matt sees Coach Eric Taylor as more of a father figure than Henry. Henry exhibits some symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (P.T.S.D.). Landry warns Matt that he [Henry] may be "all messed up from the war." However, the term is never explicitly mentioned in the show, leading him to become distant and uncaring of his family, which deeply hurts Matt. During his senior year of high school, in season 3, Matt slowly begins reconnecting with his mother, who desperately wants to be a part of her son's life again. The season after graduating, season 4, Matt's father dies after stepping on an IED. Matt became an East Dillon supporter following Coach Taylor coaching the EDHS football program, along with Julie and Landry attending EDHS.


title: Matt Saracen

text: Matt is something of an "anti-jock" who "listens to Bob Dylan and draws pictures" and is generally out of place with his teammates, such as Smash Williams and Tim Riggins, who are often seen hanging around girls or at parties, and even his predecessor, the charismatic and popular Jason Street. He is more socially awkward and often looks uncomfortable with the attention he receives as the star quarterback. His closest friend is Landry Clarke, a "nerd". An introvert, Matt's shy nature sometimes comes across as a lack of self-confidence and, according to Smash, he was "so shy he had to e-mail his plays in". Unlike most of his teammates, college football is not high on his priority list after high school.


title: Matt Saracen

text: When the series begins, Matt is the back-up quarterback and something of a social outcast. His best friend is Landry Clarke, an honor student who does not play football. Matt spends much of his varsity career in the shadow of senior, Jason Street, but is thrown in the deep end when Jason suffers a career-ending spinal cord injury during the opening game of the season. Although he does well, his scrawny build does not inspire much confidence from the fans and the Panthers lose the very next game. Matt's name board is vandalized and he is routinely mocked by rival high school students. Crushed by Jason's injury, the town and particularly the team booster club force Coach Taylor to find a new quarterback because they do not believe that Matt can get the job done. As Matt continues to work his heart out and impress his teammates, a new quarterback who was displaced due to Hurricane Katrina, Ray "Voodoo" Tatum, joins the team and temporarily replaces Matt as the starter. However, Voodoo's inability to be a team player and temper causes Coach Taylor to bench him and give the starting position back to Matt. Despite the upturn of events, Matt still struggles with feelings of inferiority and lack of confidence from time to time. In the episode, "Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes", he, Jason, Riggins, and Smash hang out at the field and confesses that he is not confident of his chances in the upcoming state semifinals against the Brant Vikings, leading Jason to give him an impromptu coaching session right then and there. Jason is seen giving advice and encouraging him at the state semifinals against the Vikings, playing in pouring rain and a muddy field. Saracen finishes his sophomore season with a 60% completion percentage, 2,586 yards, 19 touchdowns, 5 interceptions, and a 121.3 quarterback rating. In the state championship game, he passes for 283 yards and 2 touchdowns in leading the Panthers to a 27–26 epic comeback victory over West Cambria High School.


title: Matt Saracen

text: Matt also begins a relationship with Coach Taylor's daughter, Julie. Beginning as a one-sided crush because of Julie's intentions never to date a football player, the relationship blossoms when Julie recognizes that Matt is not a stereotypical jock. Coach Taylor is not very pleased that they are dating and often interferes with their relationship. Matt also develops a father-son bond with Coach Taylor and feels betrayed when Coach Taylor accepts a job at TMU at the end of the season. Matt's relationship with Coach never fully recovers.


title: Matt Saracen

text: Season 2 begins with Matt's relationship with Julie, who stays in Dillon with her mom while Coach Taylor lives in Austin, falling apart. Julie's problems at home, coupled with a crush on her older co-worker, cause her to break up with Matt. After some time, Julie attempts to reconcile. At first, Matt is receptive, but he eventually refuses, saying that he will feel like a chump if he takes her back. Matt begins dating the new cheerleader at school. Matt's friendship with Smash also begins falling apart. Matt believes that Smash, now a heavily-recruited senior, no longer cares about the team and cares only about himself and his college prospects. The two get into a fight after the first game of the season and continue fighting until Coach Taylor, back from his stint at TMU, benches them until they can get their act together. Thanks to a pep-talk from Landry, they quickly realize that they are fighting for nothing and become friends again.


title: Matt Saracen

text: Problems at home force Matt to get an at-home nurse named Carlotta for his grandmother. At first, neither Matt nor his grandmother like Carlotta very much, but they soon begin to welcome her into their home. Matt develops feelings for Carlotta and breaks up with his cheerleader girlfriend so he can be with Carlotta. She rebuffs him at first, but gives in eventually and she and Matt have sex. Their relationship does not last long, as Carlotta leaves the Saracen house to return to her family in Guatemala.


title: Matt Saracen

text: Tired of everything he has gone through, Matt begins skipping school and practice so he can get drunk with Tim. A night at the strip club with Tim ends early when Matt's grandmother has an accident at home and is taken to the hospital. Matt passes out waiting for his grandmother to be released, which forces Coach Taylor to drive them both home. A furious Coach throws Matt into a cold shower and berates him before Matt breaks down, asking Coach what is wrong with him that everyone in his life leaves him for something better. Coach responds by telling Matt that there is nothing wrong with him at all. Matt shapes up afterwards.


title: Matt Saracen

text: Season 3 begins almost a year after the conclusion of Season 2. New freshman quarterback, J.D. McCoy, who has just moved to Dillon, threatens Matt's position on the team. While Matt is still playing well, the new quarterback's skills, along with public pressure, force Coach Taylor to give J.D. the starting position. Matt, furious, threatens to quit before Coach talks him out of it. Matt agrees to stay on the team and sit on the bench, though he eventually convinces Coach to allow him to play wide receiver. Matt's final game as a Panther sees him return to the quarterback position in the second half of the state championship game after J.D.'s poor performance. After being held scoreless in the first half, the Panthers take the lead due to Matt's strong play, but they lose on the final possession when the other team kicks a field goal.


title: Matt Saracen

text: During the season, Matt slowly begins reconnecting with his mother, whom he sets out to find to become an emancipated minor and take care of his grandmother's medical issues. After learning about Matt's problems, his mother comes to Dillon hoping that Matt will allow her to help out at home even if he does not forgive her for leaving when he was a child. Matt also begins dating Julie again after a day spent together at the lake. Coach Taylor once again is not too pleased, especially after catching Julie in bed with Matt.


title: Matt Saracen

text: Matt's college prospects also come into play. He will not be playing football anywhere after being benched as a senior. He once confides to his mother after being benched that he never wanted to play in college and felt undeserving to be starting quarterback at all, given the circumstances leading to him becoming "QB1". Matt looks at different art schools before deciding on the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Knowing he will be away from home, he helps his grandmother move into an assisted living home. In the end, Matt changes his mind, unable to leave his grandmother, the only person who has stayed by his side all of his life.


title: Matt Saracen

text: Season 4 marks a transition for Matt Saracen, and the departure of his character in a leading role as the show shifts its focus to other characters. As the season begins, Matt is a pizza delivery driver attending community college. He begins to realize that his past in Dillon is holding him back, finally admitting this on a hunting trip with Tim Riggins. Upon hearing the news that his father was killed in action in the war, a devastated Matt attempts to make sense of his life. After military compensation for his father's death (along with life insurance) is enough for his grandma to live comfortably, Matt abruptly leaves for Chicago to finally attend the School of the Art Institute of Chicago—without telling Julie. Matt eventually calls her to offer an apology, but she refuses to accept it. Matt returns to Dillon for Thanksgiving, hoping to finally make amends. He tells Julie that if he did not leave when he did, he may have never left. He still, however, wishes to be with her and has already bought her a plane ticket back to Chicago. Julie still cares for Matt and wants to go with him, but she declines, saying that upending her life to follow him to Chicago will prevent her from pursuing her own dreams. Matt recognizes she is right, and the two amicably go their separate ways. Matt reconnects with his best friend by giving the ticket to Landry.


title: Matt Saracen

text: Julie visits Matt in Chicago on her way back to college after an incident with her History TA. Even though Julie says that she does not fit in Matt's life anymore, the two quickly resume their relationship. Before Julie leaves, Matt tells her that they will figure out a way to make things work. Matt surprises Julie and his grandmother by returning home for Christmas. He tells Julie that he wants to be with her forever and proposes, in front of the Alamo Freeze. Despite worries from Coach Taylor and Tami, the young couple convinces them that they are making the right choice. In the final moments of the series, which occurs eight months later, the two are shown happily living together in Chicago.


title: Justin Reid

text: Justin Quintin Reid (born February 15, 1997) is an American football safety for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Stanford. He previously played in the NFL for the Houston Texans.


title: Justin Reid

text: Reid attended Dutchtown High School in Geismar, Louisiana. He committed to Stanford University to play college football.


title: Justin Reid

text: Reid played at Stanford from 2015 to 2017. After his junior season in 2017, he decided to forgo his senior year and enter the 2018 NFL Draft. During his career, he had 170 tackles, six interceptions and one sack.


title: Justin Reid

text: On January 9, 2018, Reid announced his decision on Twitter to forgo his remaining eligibility and enter the 2018 NFL Draft. Reid attended the NFL Scouting Combine and completed all of the combine and positional drills. He was a top performer at his position in the majority of drills and finished second among safeties in the 40-yard dash, third in the short shuttle and three-cone drill, fifth in the broad jump, eighth in the vertical jump, and 11th in the bench press. On March 22, 2018, Reid participated at Stanford's pro day, but chose to stand on his combine numbers and only performed positional drills. He attended pre-draft visits and private workouts with multiple teams, including the Pittsburgh Steelers, Carolina Panthers, Seattle Seahawks, Detroit Lions, and Philadelphia Eagles. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Reid was projected to be a first or second round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked as the top free safety prospect in the draft by DraftScout.com and was ranked as the third best safety in the draft by Scouts Inc. and Sports Illustrated.


title: Justin Reid

text: The Houston Texans selected Reid in the third round (68th overall) of the 2018 NFL Draft. Reid was the fifth safety drafted in 2018. Reid unexpectedly fell from the first or second round and was ranked among the top steals of the 2018 NFL Draft.


title: Justin Reid

text: On June 10, 2018, the Houston Texans signed Reid to a four-year, $4.06 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $1.03 million.


title: Justin Reid

text: On October 7, 2018 in Week 5 against the Dallas Cowboys, he recorded his first career interception off of Dak Prescott in a 19-16 win.


title: Justin Reid

text: On November 18, 2018 in a Week 11 matchup against the Washington Redskins, he intercepted Alex Smith for a 101-yard touchdown in a 23-21 win.


title: Justin Reid

text: In week 2 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Reid made 4 tackles and stopped running back Leonard Fournette on a two point conversion attempt as the Texans won 13-12.


title: Justin Reid

text: In week 9 against the Jaguars in London, Reid recorded his first interception of the season off Gardner Minshew and returned it for 37 yards in the 26–3 win.


title: Justin Reid

text: In week 16 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Reid intercepted a pass thrown by Jameis Winston and recovered a fumble lost by Peyton Barber during the 23–20 win. On January 22, 2020, ten days after losing the AFC divisional round to the Chiefs, it was revealed that Reid was diagnosed with a torn labrum in his shoulder, confessing that he was plagued with the injury since the season began.


title: Justin Reid

text: In Week 11 against the New England Patriots, Reid led the team with nine tackles and recorded his first sack of the season on Cam Newton during the 27–20 win. He was placed on injured reserve on December 16, 2020 after suffering a hand injury in Week 14.


title: Justin Reid

text: Reid signed a three-year, $31.5 million contract with the Kansas City Chiefs on March 17, 2022. Following an injury to kicker Harrison Butker in week 1, Reid was substituted at kicker for him. He went 1 of 2 on extra points and had a touchback before Butker returned to the game. Reid would continue to kick for the Chiefs on kickoffs kicking three more of them into the end zone for a touchback.


title: Premier League Darts

text: Premier League Darts is a darts tournament which launched on 20 January 2005 on Sky Sports. Now played weekly from February to May, the event originally started as a fortnightly fixture in small venues around the United Kingdom. The tournament originally featured seven players, and now sees eight players from the PDC circuit competing in a knockout style format, with nights also hosted in Europe at different venues. The top four players in the PDC Order of Merit are joined by four wildcard selections to make up the eight-man field. Alongside the World Championship and the World Matchplay, it is considered part of the sport's Triple Crown. The current sponsor is Cazoo.


title: Premier League Darts

text: While active, Phil Taylor dominated the event, winning six of the thirteen tournaments he appeared in. He went unbeaten throughout the first three seasons before James Wade ended his 44 match run in the first match of the 2008 season. A new champion was to be crowned after Mervyn King defeated him in the 2009 semi-finals, where Wade defeated King 13–8 in the final, to pick up the £125,000 first prize. Taylor defeated Wade the following season to claim his fifth title in the competition in 2010, achieving two nine-dart finishes in the final, the only player to achieve this accomplishment.


title: Premier League Darts

text: Although there have been six overall winners of the Premier League, the league stage has been dominated by Taylor and Michael Van Gerwen, with Taylor topping the table for each of the first eight editions and van Gerwen winning the next seven. In 2020, Glen Durrant became the third player to finish top after all league fixtures had been completed. He went on to win the title, meaning all three players both topped the table and won the play-offs at their first attempt.


title: Premier League Darts

text: The prize fund has risen from £265,000 in the early years of the tournament, steadily increasing each year for a prize fund of £1,000,000 in 2022. The winner currently receives £275,000.


title: Premier League Darts

text: The matches have been broadcast on Thursday nights on Sky Sports since the tournament inception. Originally the league alternated with Premier League Snooker one week and Premier League Darts the next. From 2006, the snooker moved to late autumn – giving the Premier League darts a straight weekly run in the spring.


title: Premier League Darts

text: American sports channel OLN aired the 2006 Premier League Darts season on a slight delay, in August 2006. In 2018, BBC America started airing Premier League Darts on Thursday nights. In 2020, BBC America started airing Premier League Darts on Sunday mornings.


title: Premier League Darts

text: German sports channel Sport1 broadcasts most matches live on TV and gives coverages of a selection of matches.


title: Premier League Darts

text: The PDC announced in January 2007 that the contract with Sky Television for coverage of the Premier League had been extended to 2010.


title: Premier League Darts

text: Fourteen nine-dart finishes have been thrown in the Premier League. The first one was in 2006, and the most recent one was in 2022.


title: Premier League Darts

text: Since the tournament made its debut in 2005, Phil Taylor made an appearance in every Premier League competition until his retirement following the 2018 PDC World Darts Championship. Raymond van Barneveld competed in every Premier League from 2006 to 2019. From 2005 until the 2010 tournament, the top six players in the PDC Order of Merit after the PDC World Darts Championship automatically qualified, with one wildcard (2005 and 2006) and two wildcards (2007–2010) chosen by either the PDC or Sky Sports. From the 2011 tournament, only the top four in the PDC Order of Merit automatically qualified, with four wildcards (2011 and 2012) chosen by both the PDC and Sky Sports. In 2013, the tournament grew from eight players to ten, with the top four players in the PDC Order of Merit automatically qualifying and six other players chosen as Wildcards on the basis of their performance in the past year or in earlier editions of the Premier League. In 2022, the tournament shrank back down to eight.


title: Premier League Darts

text: When Gary Anderson withdrew from the 2019 season just before it began, Chris Dobey, Glen Durrant, Steve Lennon, Luke Humphries, John Henderson, Nathan Aspinall, Max Hopp, Dimitri Van den Bergh and Jeffrey de Zwaan were named as "contenders" to play in Anderson's place each of the first eight weeks. This format was reused for the 2020 season, with nine regular players and nine challengers; Henderson, Fallon Sherrock, Jonny Clayton, William O'Connor, Humphries, Bunting, Dobey, de Zwaan and Jermaine Wattimena were the challengers.


title: Derren Nesbitt

text: Derren Nesbitt (born Derren Michael Horwitz; 19 June 1935) is a British actor. Nesbitt's film career began in the late 1950s, and he also appeared in many television series in the late 1960s into the 1970s. He is known for his role as Major von Hapen in the 1968 film "Where Eagles Dare".


title: Derren Nesbitt

text: Often playing villains on screen, Nesbitt's television appearances began in the 1950s, including roles in "The Adventures of Sir Lancelot", "The Invisible Man", "Man of the World", "Danger Man", "The Prisoner", "Doctor Who", "UFO", "The Saint" and "Special Branch".


title: Derren Nesbitt

text: He has also appeared in film roles such as a predatory blackmailer of gay men in "Victim" (1961), a murderous pimp in "The Informers" (1963), a slimy assassin in "Nobody Runs Forever", and the suspicious Gestapo officer in "Where Eagles Dare" (1968). Nesbitt was keen to be as authentic as possible with his character in "Where Eagles Dare". Whilst on location, he requested to meet a former member of the Gestapo to better understand how to play the character and to get the military regalia correct. He was injured on set whilst filming the scene in which his character is killed. The blood squib attached to Nesbitt exploded with such force that he was temporarily blinded, though he made a quick recovery.


title: Derren Nesbitt

text: In 1961, he married his first wife, the actress Anne Aubrey; the couple had a daughter the next year. On 25 January 1973, he was fined £250 when he pleaded guilty to two charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm in October the previous year. He attacked her with a leather strap after she told him that she was having an affair with another man. He also bruised her by grabbing her clothing the next day when she refused to tell him details about her lover. She divorced him a few months later.


title: Derren Nesbitt

text: His third wife was an Australian beauty queen, and for a time he moved to her country where he taught theatre studies at The Northern Rivers Conservatorium of Arts in Lismore NSW. As of 2014, he lives in Worthing, West Sussex, with his fourth wife, Miranda.


title: India–United States Civil Nuclear Agreement

text: The 123 Agreement signed between the United States of America and the Republic of India is known as the U.S.–India Civil Nuclear Agreement or Indo-US nuclear deal. The framework for this agreement was a July 18, 2005, joint statement by then Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and then U.S. President George W. Bush, under which India agreed to separate its civil and military nuclear facilities and to place all its civil nuclear facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards and, in exchange, the United States agreed to work toward "full" civil nuclear cooperation with India. This U.S.-India deal took more than three years to come to fruition as it had to go through several complex stages, including amendment of U.S. domestic law, especially the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, a civil-military nuclear "Separation Plan" in India, an India-IAEA safeguards (inspections) agreement and the grant of an exemption for India by the Nuclear Suppliers Group, an export-control cartel that had been formed mainly in response to India's first nuclear test in 1974. In its final shape, the deal places under permanent safeguards those nuclear facilities that India has identified as "civil" and permits broad civil nuclear cooperation, while excluding the transfer of "sensitive" equipment and technologies, including civil enrichment and reprocessing items even under IAEA safeguards. On August 18, 2008 the IAEA Board of Governors approved, and on February 2, 2009, India signed an India-specific safeguards agreement with the IAEA. After India brought this agreement into force, inspections began in a phased manner on the 35 civilian nuclear installations India has identified in its Separation Plan.<ref name="INFCIRC/731"></ref> The deal is seen as a watershed in U.S.-India relations and introduces a new aspect to international nonproliferation efforts. On August 1, 2008, the IAEA approved the safeguards agreement with India, after which the United States approached the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) to grant a waiver to India to commence civilian nuclear trade. The 48-nation NSG granted the waiver to India on September 6, 2008 allowing it to access civilian nuclear technology and fuel from other countries. The implementation of this waiver made India the only known country with nuclear weapons which is not a party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) but is still allowed to carry out nuclear commerce with the rest of the world.


text: The U.S. House of Representatives passed the bill to approve the deal on September 28, 2008. Two days later, India and France inked a similar nuclear pact making France the first country to have such an agreement with India. On October 1, 2008 the U.S. Senate also approved the civilian nuclear agreement allowing India to purchase nuclear fuel and technology from—and sell them to—the United States. U.S. president, George W. Bush, signed the legislation on the Indo-US nuclear deal, approved by the U.S. Congress, into law, now called the United States-India Nuclear Cooperation Approval and Non-proliferation Enhancement Act, on October 8, 2008. The agreement was signed by then Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and his counterpart then Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, on October 10.


text: The "Henry J. Hyde United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act of 2006", also known as the "Hyde Act", is the U.S. domestic law that modifies the requirements of Section 123 of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act to permit nuclear cooperation with India and in particular to negotiate a 123 Agreement to operationalize the 2005 Joint Statement. As a domestic U.S. law, the Hyde Act is binding on the United States. The Hyde Act cannot be binding on India's sovereign decisions although it can be construed as prescriptive for future U.S. reactions. As per the Vienna Convention, an international agreement such as the 123 Agreement cannot be superseded by an internal law such as the Hyde Act.


text: The 123 agreement defines the terms and conditions for bilateral civilian nuclear cooperation, and requires separate approvals by the U.S. Congress and by Indian cabinet ministers. The agreement will also help India meet its goal of adding 25,000 MW of nuclear power capacity through imports of nuclear reactors and fuel by 2020.


text: After the terms of the 123 agreement were concluded on July 27, 2007, it ran into trouble because of stiff opposition in India from the communist allies of the ruling United Progressive Alliance. The government survived a confidence vote in the parliament on July 22, 2008 by 275–256 votes in the backdrop of defections by some parties . The deal also had faced opposition from non-proliferation activists, anti-nuclear organisations, and some states within the Nuclear Suppliers Group. In February 2008, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that any agreement would be "consistent with the obligations of the Hyde Act". The bill was signed on October 8, 2008.


text: Parties to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) have a recognized right of access to peaceful uses of nuclear energy and an obligation to cooperate on civilian nuclear technology. Separately, the Nuclear Suppliers Group has agreed on guidelines for nuclear exports, including reactors and fuel. Those guidelines condition such exports on comprehensive safeguards by the International Atomic Energy Agency, which are designed to verify that nuclear energy is not diverted from peaceful use to weapons programs. Though neither India, Israel, nor Pakistan have signed the NPT, India argues that instead of addressing the central objective of universal and comprehensive non-proliferation, the treaty creates a club of "nuclear haves" and a larger group of "nuclear have-nots" by restricting the legal possession of nuclear weapons to those states that tested them before 1967, who alone are free to possess and multiply their nuclear stockpiles.


text: India insists on a comprehensive action plan for a nuclear-free world within a specific time-frame and has also adopted a voluntary "no first use policy".


text: Led by the U.S., other states have set up an informal group, the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), to control exports of nuclear materials, equipment and technology. Consequently, India was left outside the international nuclear order, which forced India to develop its own resources for each stage of the nuclear fuel cycle and power generation, including next generation reactors such as fast breeder reactors and a thorium breeder reactor known as the Advanced Heavy Water Reactor. In addition to impelling India to achieve success in developing these new reactor technologies, the sanctions also provided India with the impetus to continue developing its own nuclear weapons technology with a specific goal of achieving self-sufficiency for all key components for weapons design, testing and production.


text: Given that India is estimated to possess reserves of about 80,000–112,369 tons of uranium, India has more than enough fissile material to supply its nuclear weapons program, even if it restricted Plutonium production to only 8 of the country's 17 current reactors, and then further restricted Plutonium production to only 1/4 of the fuel core of these reactors. According to the calculations of one of the key advisers to the US Nuclear deal negotiating team, Ashley Tellis:


text: Operating India's eight unsafeguarded PHWRs in such a [conservative] regime would bequeath New Delhi with some 12,135–13,370 kilograms of weapons-grade plutonium, which is sufficient to produce between 2,023–2,228 nuclear weapons over and above those already existing in the Indian arsenal. Although no Indian analyst, let alone a policy maker, has ever advocated any nuclear inventory that even remotely approximates such numbers, this heuristic exercise confirms that New Delhi has the capability to produce a gigantic nuclear arsenal while subsisting well within the lowest estimates of its known uranium reserves.


text: However, because the amount of nuclear fuel required for the electricity generation sector is far greater than that required to maintain a nuclear weapons program, and since India's estimated reserve of uranium represents only 1% of the world's known uranium reserves, the NSG's uranium export restrictions mainly affected Indian nuclear power generation capacity. Specifically, the NSG sanctions challenge India's long-term plans to expand and fuel its civilian nuclear power generation capacity from its current output of about 4GWe (GigaWatt electricity) to a power output of 20GWe by 2020; assuming the planned expansion used conventional Uranium/Plutonium fueled heavy water and light water nuclear power plants.


text: Consequently, India's nuclear isolation constrained expansion of its civil nuclear program, but left India relatively immune to foreign reactions to a prospective nuclear test. Partly for this reason, but mainly due to continued unchecked covert nuclear and missile proliferation activities between Pakistan, China and North Korea, India conducted five more nuclear tests in May 1998 at Pokhran.


text: India was subject to international sanctions after its May 1998 nuclear tests. However, due to the size of the Indian economy and its relatively large domestic sector, these sanctions had little impact on India, with Indian GDP growth increasing from 4.8% in 1997–1998 (prior to sanctions) to 6.6% (during sanctions) in 1998–1999. Consequently, at the end of 2001, the Bush Administration decided to drop all sanctions on India.


text: Although India achieved its strategic objectives from the Pokhran nuclear tests in 1998, it continued to find its civil nuclear program isolated internationally.


text: The proposed civil nuclear agreement implicitly recognizes India's "de facto" status even without signing the NPT. The Bush administration justifies a nuclear pact with India arguing that it is important in helping to advance the non-proliferation framework by formally recognizing India's strong non-proliferation record even though it has not signed the NPT. The former Under Secretary of State of Political Affairs, Nicholas Burns, one of the architects of the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal said "India's trust, its credibility, the fact that it has promised to create a state-of-the-art facility, monitored by the IAEA, to begin a new export control regime in place, because it has not proliferated the nuclear technology, we can't say that about Pakistan." when asked whether the U.S. would offer a nuclear deal with Pakistan on the lines of the Indo-U.S. deal. Mohamed ElBaradei, former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which would be in charge of inspecting India's civilian reactors has praised the deal as "it would also bring India closer as an important partner in the nonproliferation regime". The reaction in the U.S. led academic community was mixed. While some authors praised the agreement as bringing India closer to the NPT regime, others argued that it gave India too much leeway in determining which facilities were to be safeguarded and that it effectively rewarded India for continuously refusing to accede to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.


text: In India, the proponents of the agreement cite economic considerations as one of the topmost factors in their support of the agreement. For example, Indian scholar Rejaul Karim Laskar argues, "the most important significance of the deal for India (is) related to the contribution it will make in meeting India's energy requirements to sustain high rate of economic growth". Financially, the U.S. also expects that such a deal could spur India's economic growth and bring in $150 billion in the next decade for nuclear power plants, of which the U.S. wants a share.


text: It is India's stated objective to increase the production of nuclear power generation from its present capacity of 4,780 MWe to 20,000 MWe by 2020. India's parliament passed The Civil Liability for Nuclear Damages bill on August 25, 2010,


text: which allows the operator to sue the supplier in case of an accident due to technical defects in the plant. After the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan, issues relating to the safety of operating nuclear power plants, compensation in the event of a radiation-leak accident, disaster clean-up costs, operator responsibility and supplier liability has once again come into the spot-light.


text: Dr. Siegfried S. Hecker, PhD., former Director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, observed while testifying before a U.S. Senate Committee in 2008 that the United States might benefit from access to Indian nuclear technology: "I found that whereas sanctions slowed progress in nuclear energy, they made India self-sufficient and world leaders in fast reactor technologies. While much of the world's approach to India has been to limit its access to nuclear technology, it may well be that today we limit ourselves by not having access to India's nuclear technology developments. Such technical views should help to advice the diplomatic efforts with India."


text: Because India's nuclear program was developed mostly indigenously, the country used unique techniques that other countries can learn from.


text: Since the end of the Cold War, The Pentagon, along with certain U.S. ambassadors such as Robert Blackwill, has requested increased strategic ties with India and a de-hyphenization of Pakistan with India, i.e. having separate policies toward India and Pakistan rather than just an "India-Pakistan" policy. The United States also sees India as a viable counter-weight to the growing influence of China, and a potential client and job creator.


text: While India is self-sufficient in thorium, possessing 25% of the world's known and economically viable thorium, it possesses a meager 1% of the similarly calculated global uranium reserves. Indian support for cooperation with the U.S. centers on the issue of obtaining a steady supply of sufficient energy for the economy to grow.


text: Indian opposition to the pact centers on the concessions that would need to be made, as well as the likely de-prioritization of research into a thorium fuel cycle if uranium becomes highly available given the well understood utilization of uranium in a nuclear fuel cycle.


text: On March 2, 2006 in New Delhi, George W. Bush and Manmohan Singh signed a Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement, following an initiation during the July 2005 summit in Washington between the two leaders over civilian nuclear cooperation.


text: Heavily endorsed by the White House, the agreement is thought to be a major victory to George W. Bush's foreign policy initiative and was described by many lawmakers as a cornerstone of the new strategic partnership between the two countries.


text: On August 3, 2007, both the countries released the full text of the 123 agreement. Nicholas Burns, the chief negotiator of the India-United States nuclear deal, said the U.S. has the right to terminate the deal if India tests a nuclear weapon and that no part of the agreement recognizes India as a nuclear weapons state (which would be contrary to the NPT).


text: On December 18, 2006 President George W. Bush signed the Hyde Act into law. The Act was passed by an overwhelming 359–68 in the United States House of Representatives on July 26 and by 85–12 in the United States Senate on November 16 in a strong show of bipartisan support.


text: The House version (H.R. 5682) and Senate version (S. 3709) of the bill differed due to amendments each had added before approving, but the versions were reconciled with a House vote of 330–59 on December 8 and a Senate voice-vote on December 9 before being passed on to President G.W. Bush for final approval. The White House had urged Congress to expedite the reconciliation process during the end-2006 lame duck session, and recommended removing certain amendments which would be deemed deal-killers by India.


text: In response to the language Congress used in the Act to define U.S. policy toward India, President Bush, stated "Given the Constitution's commitment to the authority of the presidency to conduct the nation's foreign affairs, the executive branch shall construe such policy statements as advisory," going on to cite sections 103 and 104 (d) (2) of the bill. To assure Congress that its work would not be totally discarded, Bush continued by saying that the executive would give "the due weight that comity between the legislative and executive branches should require, to the extent consistent with U.S. foreign policy."


text: The Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement was met with stiff opposition by some political parties and activists in India. Although many mainstream political parties including the Congress(I) supported the deal along with regional parties like Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Rashtriya Janata Dal its realization ran into difficulties in the face of stiff political opposition in India. Also, in November 2007, former Indian Military chiefs, bureaucrats and scientists drafted a letter to Members of Parliament expressing their support for the deal. However, opposition and criticism continued at political levels. The Samajwadi Party (SP) which was with the Left Front in opposing the deal changed its stand after discussing with ex-president of India and scientist Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. The SP then supported the government and the deal. The Indian Government survived a vote of confidence by 275–256 after the Left Front withdrew their support to the government over this dispute. Incidentally, results showed ten MPs belonging to the opposing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) cross-voting in the favor of the government.


text: As details were revealed about serious inconsistencies between what the Indian parliament was told about the deal, and the facts about the agreement that were presented by the Bush administration to the US Congress, opposition grew in India against the deal. In particular, portions of the agreement dealing with guaranteeing India a fuel supply or allowing India to maintain a strategic reserve of nuclear fuel appear to be diametrically opposed to what the Indian parliament was led to expect from the agreement:


text: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement in parliament is totally at variance with the Bush Administration's communication to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which says India will not be allowed to stockpile such nuclear fuel stocks as to undercut American leverage to re-impose sanctions. To drive home this point, it says the 123 Agreement is not inconsistent with the Hyde Act's stipulation—the little-known 'Barack Obama Amendment' – that the supply of nuclear fuel should be "commensurate with reasonable operating requirements". The 'strategic reserve' that is crucial to India's nuclear program is, therefore, a non-starter.


text: Furthermore, the agreement, as a result of its compliance with the Hyde Act, contained a direct linkage between shutting down US nuclear trade with India and any potential future Indian nuclear weapons test, a point that was factually inconsistent with explicit reassurances made on this subject by Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, during final parliamentary debate on the nuclear deal. As professor Brahma Chellaney, an expert in strategic affairs and one of the authors of the Indian Nuclear Doctrine, explained:


text: While the Hyde Act's bar on Indian testing is explicit, the one in the NSG waiver is implicit, yet unmistakable. The NSG waiver is overtly anchored in NSG Guidelines Paragraph 16, which deals with the consequence of "an explosion of a nuclear device". The waiver's Section 3(e) refers to this key paragraph, which allows a supplier to call for a special NSG meeting, and seek termination of cooperation, in the event of a test or any other "violation of a supplier-recipient understanding". The recently leaked Bush administration letter to Congress has cited how this Paragraph 16 rule will effectively bind India to the Hyde Act's conditions on the pain of a U.S.-sponsored cut-off of all multilateral cooperation. India will not be able to escape from the U.S.-set conditions by turning to other suppliers.


text: On July 9, 2008, India formally submitted the safeguards agreement to the IAEA. This development came after the Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh returned from the 34th G8 summit meeting in Hokkaido, Japan, where he met with U.S. President George W. Bush. On June 19, 2008, news media reported that Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh threatened to resign his position if the Left Front, whose support was crucial for the ruling United Progressive Alliance to prove its majority in the Indian parliament, continued to oppose the nuclear deal and he described their stance as irrational and reactionary. According to "The Hindu", External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's earlier statement said "I cannot bind the government if we lose our majority," implying that United Progressive Alliance government would not put its signature on any deal with IAEA if it lost the majority in either an 'opposition-initiated no-confidence motion' or if failing to muster a vote of confidence in Indian parliament after being told to prove its majority by the president. On July 8, 2008, Prakash Karat announced that the Left Front is withdrawing its support to the government over the decision by the government to go ahead on the United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act. The left front had been a staunch advocate of not proceeding with this deal citing national interests.


text: On July 22, 2008 the UPA faced its first confidence vote in the Lok Sabha after the Communist Party of India (Marxist) led Left Front withdrew support over India approaching the IAEA for Indo-U.S. nuclear deal. The UPA won the confidence vote with 275 votes to the opposition's 256, (10 members abstained from the vote) to record a 19-vote victory.


text: The IAEA Board of Governors approved the safeguards agreement on August 1, 2008, and the 45-state Nuclear Suppliers Group next had to approve a policy allowing nuclear cooperation with India. U.S. President Bush can then make the necessary certifications and seek final approval by the U.S. Congress. There were objections from Pakistan, Iran, Ireland, Norway, Switzerland, and Austria at the IAEA meeting.


text: On September 6, 2008 India was granted the waiver at the NSG meeting held in Vienna, Austria. The consensus was arrived at after overcoming misgivings expressed by Austria, Ireland, and New Zealand and is an unprecedented step in giving exemption to a country which has not signed the NPT and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) The Indian team who worked on the deal includes Manmohan Singh, Pranab Mukherjee, Shivshankar Menon, Shyam Saran, M. K. Narayanan, Anil Kakodkar, Ravi Grover, and DB Venkatesh Varma.


text: In August 2008 U.S. draft exemption would have granted India a waiver based on the "steps that India has taken voluntarily as a contributing partner in the non-proliferation regime". Based on these steps, and without further conditions, the draft waiver would have allowed for the transfer to India of both trigger list and dual-use items (including technology), waiving the full-scope safeguards requirements of the NSG guidelines.


text: A September 2008 waiver would have recognized additional "steps that India has voluntarily taken." The waiver called for notifying the NSG of bilateral agreements and for regular consultations; however, it also would have waived the full-scope safeguards requirements of the NSG guidelines without further conditions.


text: The U.S. draft underwent further changes in an effort to make the language more acceptable to the NSG.


text: The deal had initial support from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Japan, Russia, and Germany. After some initial opposition, there were reports of Australia, Switzerland, and Canada expressing their support for the deal. Selig S. Harrison, a former South Asia bureau chief of "The Washington Post", has said the deal may represent a tacit recognition of India as a nuclear weapon state, while former U.S. Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Robert Joseph says the "U.S. State Department made it very clear that we will not recognize India as a nuclear-weapon state".


text: Norway, Austria, Brazil, and Japan all warned that their support for India at the IAEA did not mean that they would not express reservations at the NSG. New Zealand, which is a member of the NSG but not of the IAEA Board of Governors, cautioned that its support should not be taken for granted. Ireland, which launched the non-proliferation treaty process in 1958 and signed it first in 1968, doubted India's nuclear trade agreement with the U.S. Russia, a potentially large nuclear supplier to India, expressed reservations about transferring enrichment and reprocessing technology to India. China argued the agreement constituted "a major blow to the international non-proliferation regime". New Zealand said it would like to see a few conditions written in to the waiver: the exemption ceasing if India conducts nuclear tests, India signing the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) additional protocol, and placing limits on the scope of the technology that can be given to India and which could relate to nuclear weapons. Austria, Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Scandinavian countries proposed similar amendments. The nuclear deal was opposed by former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, who opined that the U.S. would be making "a dangerous deal with India"


text: After the first NSG meeting in August 2008, diplomats noted that up to 20 of the 45 NSG states tabled conditions similar to the Hyde Act for India's waiver to do business with the NSG. "There were proposals on practically every paragraph," a European diplomat said. A group of seven NSG members suggested including some of the provisions of the U.S. Hyde Act in the final waiver. Daryll Kimball, executive director of the Washington-based Arms Control Association, said the NSG should at a minimum "make clear that nuclear trade with India shall be terminated if it resumes testing for any reason. If India cannot agree to such terms, it suggests that India is not serious about its nuclear test moratorium pledge."


text: After India was granted the waiver on September 6, the United Kingdom said that the NSG's decision would make a "significant contribution" to global energy and climate security. U.S. National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said, "this is a historic achievement that strengthens global non-proliferation principles while assisting India to meet its energy requirements in an environmentally friendly manner. The United States thanks the participating governments in the NSG for their outstanding efforts and cooperation to welcome India into the global non-proliferation community. We especially appreciate the role Germany played as chair to move this process forward." New Zealand praised the NSG consensus and said that it got the best possible deal with India. One of India's strongest allies Russia said in a statement, "We are convinced that the exemption made for India reflects Delhi's impeccable record in the non-proliferation sphere and will guarantee the peaceful uses of nuclear exports to India." Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said that the NSG granted waiver because of "India's rise as a global power" and added, "If such a request was made for another country, I don't think it would have been cleared by the NSG members." During his visit to India in September 2008, Smith said that Australia "understood and respected India's decision not to join the Non-Proliferation Treaty". German Foreign Ministry spokesman Jens Ploetner called India a "special case" and added, "Does this agreement send an approving message to Iran? No, it absolutely does not."


text: Initially, there were reports of the People's Republic of China analyzing the extent of the opposition against the waiver at the NSG and then revealing its position over the issue. On September 1, 2008, prominent Chinese newspaper "People's Daily" expressed its strong disapproval of the civilian agreement with India. India's National Security Advisor remarked that one of the major opponents of the waiver was China and said that he would express Indian government's displeasure over the issue. It was also revealed that China had abstained during the final voting process, indicating its non-approval of the nuclear agreement. In a statement, Chinese delegation to the NSG said the group should address the aspirations of other countries too, an implicit reference to Pakistan. There were also unconfirmed reports of India considering the cancellation of a state visit by Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi. However, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the Chinese Foreign Minister will be welcomed "as an honored guest". The "Times of India" noted that China's stance could have a long-term implication on Sino-Indian relations.


text: There were some other conflicting reports on China's stance, however. "The Hindu" reported that though China had expressed its desire to include more stern language in the final draft, they had informed India about their intention to back the agreement. In an interview to the "Hindustan Times", Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Hu Zhengyue said that "China understands India's needs for civil nuclear energy and related international cooperation." Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told India's CNN-IBN, "We didn't do anything to block it [the deal]. We played a constructive role. We also adopted a positive and responsible attitude and a safeguards agreement was reached, so facts speak louder ... than some reports". During a press conference in New Delhi, Yang added, "The policy was set much before that. When consensus was reached, China had already made it clear in a certain way that we have no problem with the [NSG] statement." Highlighting the importance of Sino-Indian relations, Yang remarked, "let us [India and China] work together to move beyond doubts to build a stronger relationship between us."


text: Indian PM Manmohan Singh visited Washington D.C. on September 26, 2008 to celebrate the conclusion of the agreement with U.S. President George W. Bush. He also visited France to convey his appreciation for the country's stance. India's External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee expressed his deep appreciation for India's allies in the NSG, especially the United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia, Germany, South Africa and Brazil for helping India achieve NSG's consensus on the nuclear deal.


text: Bharatiya Janata Party's Yashwant Sinha, who also formerly held the post of India's External Affairs Minister, criticized the Indian government's decision to seek NSG's consensus and remarked that "India has walked into the non-proliferation trap set by the U.S., we have given up our right to test nuclear weapons forever, it has been surrendered by the government". However, another prominent member of the same party and India's former National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra supported the development at the NSG and said that the waiver granted made "no prohibition" on India to conduct nuclear tests in the future.


text: A leading advocate of the agreement was India's most eminent strategic affairs analyst K. Subrahmanyam, also known for his long and controversial championing of an Indian nuclear deterrent. He argued that the convergence of strategic interests between the two nations forced such a remarkable gesture from the US, overturning its decades-long stand on non-proliferation, and that it would be unwise on India's part to spurn such an overture. He also argued that not recognizing new geo-political realities would be even more foolhardy on the part of the Indian elite.


text: Former President of India and noted Indian scientist, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, also supported the agreement and remarked that New Delhi may break its "voluntary moratorium" on further nuclear tests in "supreme national interest". However, analyst M K Bhadrakumar demurred. He said that the consensus at NSG was achieved on the "basis" of Pranab Mukherjee's commitment to India's voluntary moratorium on nuclear testing and by doing so, India has entered into a "multilateral commitment" bringing it within "the ambit of the CTBT and NPT".


text: The NSG consensus was welcomed by several major Indian companies. Major Indian corporations like Videocon Group, Tata Power and Jindal Power saw a US$40 billion nuclear energy market in India in the next 10–15 years. On a more optimistic note, some of India's largest and most well-respected corporations like Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, National Thermal Power Corporation and Larsen & Toubro were eyeing a $100 billion (U.S.) business in this sector over the same time period. According to "Hindustan Times", nuclear energy will produce 52,000 MW of electricity in India by 2020.


text: More than 150 non-proliferation activists and anti-nuclear organizations called for tightening the initial NSG agreement to prevent harming the current global non-proliferation regime. Among the steps called for were:


text: The call said that the draft Indian nuclear "deal would be a nonproliferation disaster and a serious setback to the prospects of global nuclear disarmament" and also pushed for all world leaders who are serious about ending the arms race "to stand up and be counted."


text: Dr. Kaveh L. Afrasiabi, who has taught political science at Tehran University, has argued the agreement will set a new precedent for other states, adding that the agreement represents a diplomatic boon for Tehran. Ali Ashgar Soltanieh, the Iranian Deputy Director General for International and Political Affairs, has complained the agreement may undermine the credibility, integrity and universality of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Pakistan argues the safeguards agreement "threatens to increase the chances of a nuclear arms race in the subcontinent." Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has suggested his country should be considered for such an accord, and Pakistan has also said the same process "should be available as a model for other non-NPT states". On July 19, 2010, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton countered Pakistan statements by saying that Pakistan's checkered history on nuclear proliferation "raises red flags" regarding nuclear cooperation with Pakistan. Israel is citing the Indo-U.S. civil nuclear deal as a precedent to alter Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) rules to construct its first nuclear power plant in the Negev desert, and is also pushing for its own trade exemptions.


text: Brahma Chellaney, a Professor of Strategic Studies at the New Delhi-based Centre for Policy Research, argued that the wording of the U.S. exemption sought to irrevocably tether New Delhi to the nuclear non-proliferation regime. He argued India would be brought under a wider non-proliferation net, with India being tied to compliance with the entire set of NSG rules. India would acquiesce to its unilateral test moratorium being turned into a multilateral legality. He concluded that instead of the "full" civil nuclear cooperation that the original July 18, 2005, deal promised, India's access to civil nuclear enrichment and reprocessing technologies would be restricted through the initial NSG waiver.