# 2015-06-05
# source: http://en.wikipedia.org
The 2011 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final was a soccer match between the Seattle Sounders FC and the Chicago Fire, played on October 4, 2011 at CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Washington. The match was the culmination of the 2011 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, a tournament open to amateur and professional soccer teams affiliated with the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer). This was the 98th edition of the U.S. Open Cup, the oldest ongoing competition in American soccer. The Seattle Sounders FC won by defeating the Chicago Fire 2–0 with goals scored by Fredy Montero and Osvaldo Alonso. The attendance was 36,615, breaking the record for the final set the previous year when Seattle also won and hosted. Seattle became the first team since 1968 to win three consecutive U.S. Open Cup championships and the fourth team ever to do so in the 98-year history of the tournament.
Sounders FC automatically qualified for the third round of the U.S. Open Cup tournament by finishing among the top six in the 2010 Major League Soccer season. The Fire did not automatically qualify, and had to play through two qualification rounds before entering the official tournament. Prior to the final, Chicago and Seattle had met twice in 2011, with Seattle winning one game and the other ending in a draw.
The final was televised live on Fox Soccer. This was the second consecutive year the tournament final was played at CenturyLink Field. As the winner of the tournament, Seattle earned a berth in the 2012–13 CONCACAF Champions League and received a $100,000 cash prize. Chicago received a $50,000 prize as the runner-up. Following the final, criticism was raised regarding Seattle winning hosting rights for each round they played. In response, U.S. Soccer announced changes to the rules for determining the host of tournament matches.
Prior to reaching the 2011 final, the Chicago Fire had reached the U.S. Open Cup final five times in their 14-year history, the most of any MLS franchise, winning four out of five of the tournaments–most recently in 2006. The Fire began their 2011 Open Cup campaign on March 30, 2011 in the MLS qualification semifinals, hosting the Colorado Rapids at Shea Stadium in Peoria, Illinois. Chicago scored first with a goal from Gastón Puerari right before half time. Just one minute into the second half, the Rapids equalized off of a goal from Andre Akpan. Following Akpan's goal, the match remained tied for 15 minutes until Chicago's Jalil Anibaba scored the match-winning goal in the 61st minute of play. Chicago moved on to the next round of qualification with a final score of 2–1.
The Fire then turned their attention to their second and final qualification match hosted by the San Jose Earthquakes at Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Played on May 24, 2011 in front of 4,124 spectators, the hosts took a two-goal lead in the first half with Ellis McLoughlin and Justin Morrow scoring in the 14th and 43rd minutes, respectively. The Fire halved the deficit in the 61st minute with a goal from Orr Barouch. Fifteen minutes later the Fire tied the score with a strike from Yamith Cuesta. The score remained tied until the end of regulation, leading to extra time, during which Chicago's Gonzalo Segares was ejected for dissent. Despite the Earthquakes' man advantage, the two sides remained tied during overtime, prompting a penalty shootout. In the fifth round of penalties, with Chicago leading 5–4, San Jose's Scott Sealy missed his shot as it deflected off of the crossbar, giving the Fire a second qualifier victory and a berth into the third round of the 2011 U.S. Open Cup tournament.
In the third round, Chicago faced the Rochester Rhinos of the USL Pro division. Rochester hosted the match on June 28 at the Rhinos' Sahlen's Stadium in front of a crowd of 5,558. The Fire's Diego Cháves netted the match's only goal in the 37th minute of play, earning the Fire a spot in the quarterfinals for the first time since 2008.
In the quarterfinals, held on July 12, 2011, the Fire hosted MLS Eastern Conference rival the New York Red Bulls at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois. Against mostly reserves for New York, the Fire won the match 4–0 with two goals from Orr Barouch and a goal each scored by Dominic Oduro and Yamith Cuesta. Due to power outages in the area following a severe thunderstorm, the game's start time was moved up from 7:30 pm to 5:00 pm local time, resulting in a late-arriving attendance of about 2,000. Following the match, uproar from Red Bull fans prompted coach Hans Backe to explain that fatigue was the reason for sending only his team's reserve players and an assistant coach to Chicago. New York had lost to DC United in league play just 2 days earlier.
On August 31, 2011, the Fire played host to another USL Pro side, the Richmond Kickers, in the semifinal round. On their way to the semifinals, the Kickers defeated two MLS teams in consecutive rounds. They upset the Columbus Crew and Sporting Kansas City in the third round and the quarterfinals, respectively. The semifinal was hosted by the Fire at Toyota Park in front of a crowd of 8,909. In the 32nd minute, the Fire took the lead with a goal from Sebastián Grazzini. In the 61st minute, Chicago went up 2–0 with a goal from Dominic Oduro. Seven minutes later, the Kickers cut the lead in half with a goal from Yomby William. The Fire won 2–1, earning their sixth trip to the U.S. Open Cup final.
On August 26, 2011, U.S. Soccer announced the potential sites for the final, depending on the outcome of the semifinals. It was determined through a blind bid process that if Seattle qualified for the final, they would host it at CenturyLink Field regardless of the opponent, for the second straight year. If FC Dallas defeated Sounders FC in the semifinals, they would host the Richmond Kickers at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas, or visit the Chicago Fire at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois, depending on the outcome of the other semifinal match. Seattle defeated Dallas and Chicago defeated Richmond in the semifinals, which resulted in Sounders FC hosting the Fire in the 2011 Open Cup final at CenturyLink Field. Seattle had hosted the previous final, in 2010, drawing a crowd of 31,311 and breaking the 81-year-old attendance record for the event set in 1929 when New York Hakoah defeated the Madison Kennel Club of St. Louis.
Tickets for the 2011 final went on sale to the public on September 6. By September 19, it was announced that 27,000 tickets had already been sold. Nine days later, ticket sales surpassed 30,000 and it was announced that the "Hawks Nest" bleacher seats in the north end of CenturyLink Field would be made available for the event. In the week leading up to the final, Sounders FC owner and general manager Adrian Hanauer indicated that sections of the stadium would continue to be opened to meet demand. He stated that "no paying customer would be turned away."
With a better MLS regular season record and home field advantage, Sounders FC were the favorites to win the match; however, the Fire had improved throughout the year through better play from their wingers and midfielders.
Seattle and Chicago had met twice in MLS regular season matches in 2011. The first meeting, on April 9, 2011, resulted in a 2–1 win for Sounders FC in front of their home crowd. It was Seattle's 5th game of the season. The second meeting was hosted by Chicago on June 4, 2011, and resulted in a 0–0 draw. It was the first game for Chicago coach Frank Klopas as he replaced Carlos de los Cobos, who was fired by the club the previous week. As a player, Klopas had scored the winning goal for Chicago in the 1998 U.S. Open Cup final. As coach, ESPNChicago.com analyst Charlie Corr credited him with the team's successful shift in tactics since previously meeting Seattle.
In the days leading up to the final, Seattle had recently finished a long road trip. Chicago's schedule made the match their third in a week's time. In preparation for the final, the managers fielded weaker sides during their respective league matches two days before the game, allowing them to rest several regular starters. The Sounders were playing well, having already clinched a MLS playoff berth. A victory over the New England Revolution on the weekend prior to the final gave the team a three-game winning streak. The Fire had defeated Real Salt Lake on September 28, but their playoff chances were diminished after a tie against the Houston Dynamo on the weekend prior to the final.
The match started with a frenetic pace as both teams earned free kick attempts within the opening two minutes. Seattle forward Mike Fucito had the first goal scoring opportunity of the match in the eighth minute as he broke free in the penalty area and took a shot on goal. The shot was kicked away by Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson. Neither side appeared to gain control as the match progressed through the first 10 minutes. In the 11th minute, Chicago midfielder Marco Pappa slipped between two defenders in the middle of the field and had a long range shot go just wide of the net. Two minutes later Pappa again had a long shot which forced Seattle goalkeeper Kasey Keller to make a save. Pappa was responsible for all five of his team's shots in the first half. In the 26th minute, Patrick Nyarko was shown a yellow card by referee Alex Prus for a hard tackle on Seattle's Osvaldo Alonso near the touch-line.
As the match passed the 30 minute mark, Seattle began to take control as they held possession and created more scoring opportunities. Five minutes before half time Marco Pappa again tested the Seattle goalkeeper as he cut inside a defender and took a shot from 30 yards. The shot forced Kasey Keller to make a diving save. In the 44th minute Seattle striker Mike Fucito rushed onto a poor backpass by the Chicago defense and then backhealed a pass to Alvaro Fernandez who was streaking into the box. His shot was stopped with a reaching save by Chicago goalkeeper Sean Johnson. One minute later, in first half injury time, Seattle striker Fredy Montero nearly scored with a 20-yard shot that flew past the keeper and bounced off the left goal post. The half ended with the score tied 0–0.
Dallas Buyers Club is a 2013 American biographical film drama, co-written by Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack, directed by Jean-Marc Vallée. Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey) was a real-life AIDS patient diagnosed in the mid 1980s when HIV/AIDS treatments were under-researched while the disease was not understood and highly stigmatized. As part of the experimental AIDS treatment movement, he smuggled unapproved pharmaceutical drugs into Texas for treating his symptoms, and distributed them to fellow people with AIDS by establishing the "Dallas Buyers Club" while facing opposition from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Two fictional supporting characters, Dr. Eve Saks (Jennifer Garner), and Rayon (Jared Leto), were composite roles created from the writer's interviews with transgender AIDS patients, activists, and doctors.
Screenwriter Borten interviewed Woodroof in 1992 and wrote the script, which he polished with writer Wallack in 2000, and then sold to producer Robbie Brenner. Several other actors, directors, and producers who were attached at various times to the development of the film left the project. Universal Pictures also tried to make the film, but did not. A couple of screenwriters wrote drafts that were rejected. In 2009, producer Brenner involved McConaughey, because of his Dallas origins, the same as Woodroof's. Brenner selected the first draft, written by Borten and Wallack, for the film, and then Vallée was set to direct the film. Principal photography began on November 11, 2012, in New Orleans, Louisiana, continuing for 25 days of filming, which also included shooting in Baton Rouge. Brenner and Rachel Winter co-produced the film. The official soundtrack album was featured by various artists, and was released digitally on October 29, 2013, by the Relativity Music Group.
Dallas Buyers Club premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival and was released theatrically in the United States on November 1, 2013, by Focus Features, strategically entering wide release on November 22 for award season. The film grossed over $27 million domestically and $27.9 million internationally, the box office revenue returned over $55 million against a budget of $5 million in 182-days of a theatrical run. It grossed over $4.5 million from DVD, and over $3 million from Blu-ray sales. The film received widespread critical acclaim, resulting in numerous accolades. Most recognized the performances of McConaughey and Leto, who respectively received the Academy Award for Best Actor and for Best Supporting Actor at the 86th Academy Awards, making this the first film since Mystic River (2003), and only the fifth movie ever, to win both awards. The film also won for Best Makeup and Hairstyling, having received Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Editing nominations.
Woodroof bribes a hospital worker to get him the AZT. As soon as he begins taking it, he finds his health deteriorating (exacerbated by his cocaine use). When he returns to the hospital, he meets Rayon, a drug addict, and HIV-positive trans woman, toward whom he is hostile. As his health worsens, he drives to a Mexican hospital to get more AZT. Dr. Vass, who has had his American medical license revoked, tells him that the AZT is "poisonous" and "kills every cell it comes into contact with". He instead prescribes him ddC and the protein peptide T, which are not approved in the US. Three months later, Woodroof finds his health much improved. It occurs to him that he could make money by importing the drugs and selling them to other HIV-positive patients. Since the drugs are not illegal, he is able to get them over the border by masquerading as a priest and swearing that they are for personal use. Meanwhile, Dr. Saks also begins to notice the negative effects of AZT, but is told by her supervisor Dr. Sevard that it cannot be discontinued.
Woodroof begins selling the drugs on the street. He comes back into contact with Rayon, with whom he reluctantly sets up business since she can bring many more clients. The pair establish the "Dallas Buyers Club", charging $400 per month for membership, and it becomes extremely popular. He gradually begins to respect Rayon and think of her as a friend. When Woodroof has a heart attack, Sevard learns of the club and the alternative medication. He is angry that it is interrupting his trial, while Richard Barkley of the FDA confiscates the ddC and threatens to have Woodroof arrested. Saks agrees that there are benefits to AIDS medicine buyers clubs (of which there are several around the country) but feels powerless to change anything. The processes that the FDA uses to research, test and approve drugs is seen as flawed and a part of the problem for AIDS patients. Saks and Woodroof strike up a friendship.
Barkley gets a police permit to raid the Buyers Club, but can do nothing but give Woodroof a fine. In 1987, the FDA changes its regulations such that any unapproved drug is also illegal. As the Club runs out of funds, Rayon—who is addicted to cocaine—begs her father for money and tells Woodroof that she has sold her life insurance policy to raise money. Woodroof travels to Mexico and get more of the peptide T. Upon return Ron finds that Rayon died after being taken to hospital and given AZT. Saks is also upset by her death, and is asked to resign when the hospital discovers she is linking patients with the Buyers Club. She refuses to comply and insists that she would have to be fired.
As time passes, Woodroof shows compassion towards gay, lesbian, and transgender members of the club and making money becomes less of a concern – his priority is provision of the drugs. Peptide T gets increasingly difficult to acquire, and in 1987 he files a lawsuit against the FDA. He seeks the legal right to take the protein, which has been confirmed as non-toxic but is still not approved. The judge is compassionate toward him and admonishes the FDA, but lacks the legal tools to do anything. As the film ends, on-screen text reveals that the FDA later allowed Woodroof to take peptide T for personal use and that he died of AIDS in 1992, seven years later than his doctors initially predicted.
New Noise Magazines Joseph Tucker said, "The score on this record is incredibly diverse and of equally incredible quality, unlike so many others. Pick this up before or after you go and see Dallas Buyers Club." Matt of Homo Razzi said about the album, "Overall this soundtrack has a little bit of everything and it works perfectly, mirroring some of the themes, emotions and moments of the film." Stephanie Ochona reviewed for Renowned for Sound and gave the soundtrack 4.5 out of 5 ratings, she said, "Set in the 80′s where drugs and other experimentation was all the rage, music plays a big factor in the entire atmosphere of the movie. The soundtrack includes a diverse group of artists, from country stars, indie icons and modern rockers. All the songs featured help bring out the kind of mood a movie like Dallas Buyers Club is." Ochona also said, "Without such an accurate soundtrack, the film wouldn’t have made such a big impact, and both the visual and aural aspects work together to create a beautiful story of a man fighting for the right to live his life."
Music critic Green Baron reviewed the music for the Sputnikmusic, Baron said, "Dallas Buyers Club itself was a breathtaking motion picture driven by the extraordinary performances from Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto. Its accompanying soundtrack, however, is less than satisfying. Filled to the brim with lifeless, stale indie-rock tracks, the supporting album to one of the year’s most gripping films is a complete waste of talent and potential." Baron thought Dallas Buyers Club was saved by a few excellent songs, which were "Ready to Be Called On", "After the Scripture" and "City of Angels". He said, "Overall, the Dallas Buyers Club soundtrack is one that really isn't worth your time or money. Aside from three superb songs, the whole album is a collection of drab indie pop/rock that ultimately falls flat due to its lack of memorability."
The Northern Xinjiang Railway or Beijiang Railway (北疆铁路) is a railway in Xinjiang, China between Urumqi, the regional capital of Xinjiang and Alashankou on the border with Kazakhstan. The railway is 460 km in length and runs along the northern slope of the Tian Shan mountain range, connecting all major cities and towns of the southern Junggar Basin, including Changji, Hutubi, Manas, Shihezi, Kuytun, Wusu, Bortala (Bole), Jinghe and Alashankou. The line extends the Lanzhou-Xinjiang Railway west from Ürümqi to the Turkestan-Siberia Railway on the Kazakh border, and forms a section of the Trans-Eurasian Railway from Rotterdam to Lianyungang. The line opened in 1992.
Covering approximately 9.6 million square kilometers, China is the world's second-largest country by land area, and either the third or fourth-largest by total area, depending on the method of measurement.[i] China's landscape is vast and diverse, ranging from forest steppes and the Gobi and Taklamakan deserts in the arid north to subtropical forests in the wetter south. The Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separate China from South and Central Asia. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third- and sixth-longest in the world, run from the Tibetan Plateau to the densely populated eastern seaboard. China's coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometres (9,000 mi) long, and is bounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East and South China Seas.
The history of China goes back to the ancient civilization – one of the world's earliest – that flourished in the fertile basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. For millennia, China's political system was based on hereditary monarchies, known as dynasties, beginning with the semi-mythological Xia of the Yellow River basin (c. 2000 BCE). Since 221 BCE, when the Qin Dynasty first conquered several states to form a Chinese empire, the country has expanded, fractured and been reformed numerous times. The Republic of China (ROC) overthrew the last dynasty in 1911, and ruled the Chinese mainland until 1949. After the defeat of the Empire of Japan in World War II, the Communist Party defeated the nationalist Kuomintang in mainland China and established the People's Republic of China in Beijing on 1 October 1949, while the Kuomintang relocated the ROC government to its present capital of Taipei.
China had the largest and most complex economy in the world for most of the past two thousand years, during which it as seen cycles of prosperity and decline. Since the introduction of economic reforms in 1978, China has become one of the world's fastest-growing major economies. As of 2013, it is the world's second-largest economy by both nominal total GDP and purchasing power parity (PPP), and is also the world's largest exporter and importer of goods. China is a recognized nuclear weapons state and has the world's largest standing army, with the second-largest defence budget. The PRC has been a United Nations member since 1971, when it replaced the ROC as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council. China is also a member of numerous formal and informal multilateral organizations, including the WTO, APEC, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the BCIM and the G-20. China is a regional power within Asia and has been characterized as a potential superpower by a number of commentators.
The word "China" is derived from the Persian word Chin (چین), which is from the Sanskrit word Cīna (चीन). It is first recorded in 1516 in the journal of the Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa. The journal was translated and published in England in 1555. The traditional theory, proposed in the 17th century by Martino Martini, is that Cīna is derived from "Qin" (秦), the westernmost of the Chinese kingdoms during the Zhou Dynasty. However, the word was used in early Hindu scripture, including the Mahābhārata (5th century BC) and the Laws of Manu (2nd century BC).
The official name of the present country is the People's Republic of China (Chinese: 中华人民共和国; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó). The common Chinese names for the country are Zhōngguó (Chinese: 中国, from zhōng, "central" or "middle", and guó, "state" or "states," and in modern times, "nation") and Zhōnghuá (Chinese: 中华), although the country's official name has been changed numerous times by successive dynasties and modern governments. The term Zhōngguó appeared in various ancient texts, such as the Classic of History of the 6th century BCE,[j] and in pre-imperial times it was often used as a cultural concept to distinguish the Huaxia tribes from perceived "barbarians". The term, which can be either singular or plural, referred to the group of states or provinces in the central plain, but was not used as a name for the country as a whole until the nineteenth century. The Chinese were not unique in regarding their country as "central", with other civilizations having the same view of themselves.
On 1 January 1912, the Republic of China was established, and Sun Yat-sen of the Kuomintang (the KMT or Nationalist Party) was proclaimed provisional president. However, the presidency was later given to Yuan Shikai, a former Qing general who in 1915 proclaimed himself Emperor of China. In the face of popular condemnation and opposition from his own Beiyang Army, he was forced to abdicate and reestablish the republic.
After Yuan Shikai's death in 1916, China was politically fragmented. Its Beijing-based government was internationally recognized but virtually powerless; regional warlords controlled most of its territory. In the late 1920s, the Kuomintang, under Chiang Kai-shek, was able to reunify the country under its own control with a series of deft military and political manoeuvrings, known collectively as the Northern Expedition. The Kuomintang moved the nation's capital to Nanjing and implemented "political tutelage", an intermediate stage of political development outlined in Sun Yat-sen's San-min program for transforming China into a modern democratic state. The political division in China made it difficult for Chiang to battle the Communists, against whom the Kuomintang had been warring since 1927 in the Chinese Civil War. This war continued successfully for the Kuomintang, especially after the Communists retreated in the Long March, until Japanese aggression and the 1936 Xi'an Incident forced Chiang to confront Imperial Japan.
The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), a theatre of World War II, forced an uneasy alliance between the Kuomintang and the Communists. Japanese forces committed numerous war atrocities against the civilian population; in all, as many as 20 million Chinese civilians died. An estimated 200,000 Chinese were massacred in the city of Nanjing alone during the Japanese occupation. Japan surrendered unconditionally to China in 1945. Taiwan, including the Pescadores, was put under the administrative control of the Republic of China, which immediately claimed sovereignty. China emerged victorious but war-ravaged and financially drained. The continued distrust between the Kuomintang and the Communists led to the resumption of civil war. In 1947, constitutional rule was established, but because of the ongoing unrest, many provisions of the ROC constitution were never implemented in mainland China.
The People's Republic of China is the second-largest country in the world by land area after Russia, and is either the third- or fourth-largest by total area, after Russia, Canada and, depending on the definition of total area, the United States.[k] China's total area is generally stated as being approximately 9,600,000 km2 (3,700,000 sq mi). Specific area figures range from 9,572,900 km2 (3,696,100 sq mi) according to the Encyclopædia Britannica, 9,596,961 km2 (3,705,407 sq mi) according to the UN Demographic Yearbook, to 9,596,961 km2 (3,705,407 sq mi) according to the CIA World Factbook.
China has the longest combined land border in the world, measuring 22,117 km (13,743 mi) from the mouth of the Yalu River to the Gulf of Tonkin. China borders 14 nations, more than any other country except Russia, which also borders 14. China extends across much of East Asia, bordering Vietnam, Laos, and Burma in Southeast Asia; India, Bhutan, Nepal and Pakistan[l] in South Asia; Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan in Central Asia; and Russia, Mongolia, and North Korea in Inner Asia and Northeast Asia. Additionally, China shares maritime boundaries with South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines and Taiwan.
With the temporary passing of the Arab threat, Constantine turned his attention to the Church, which was torn between Monothelitism and Orthodoxy. In November 680 Constantine convened the Sixth Ecumenical Council (also known as the Third Council of Constantinople). Constantine presided in person during the formal aspects of the proceedings (the first eleven sittings and then the eighteenth), surrounded by his court officials, but he took no active role in the theological discussions. The Council reaffirmed the Orthodox doctrines of the Council of Chalcedon in 451. This solved the controversy over monothelitism; conveniently for the Empire, most monothelites were now under the control of the Umayyad Caliphate. The council closed in September 681.
Due to the ongoing conflicts with the Arabs during the 670s, Constantine had been forced to conclude treaties in the west with the Lombards, who had captured Brindisi and Taranto. Also in 670, the Bulgars under Asparukh crossed the Danube into nominally Imperial territory and began to subject the local communities and Slavic tribes. In 680, Constantine IV led a combined land and sea operation against the invaders and besieged their fortified camp in Dobruja. Suffering from bad health, the Emperor had to leave the army, which panicked and was defeated by the Bulgars. In 681, Constantine was forced to acknowledge the Bulgar state in Moesia and to pay tribute/protection money to avoid further inroads into Byzantine Thrace. Consequently, Constantine created the Theme of Thrace.
His brothers Heraclius and Tiberius had been crowned with him as Augusti during the reign of their father, and this was confirmed by the demand of the populace, but in 681 Constantine had them mutilated so they would be ineligible to rule. At the same time he associated on the throne his own young son Justinian II. Constantine died of dysentery in September 685.
Commencing in 674, the Arabs launched the long-awaited siege of Constantinople. The great fleet that had been assembled set sail under the command of Abdu'l-Rahman ibn Abu Bakr before the end of the year; during the winter months some of the ships anchored at Smyrna, the rest off the coast of Cilicia. Additional squadrons reinforced the forces of Abd ar-Rahman before they proceeded to the Hellespont, into which they sailed in about April 674. From April to September 674 the fleet lay moored from the promontory of Hebdomon, on the Propontis, as far as the promontory of Kyklobion, near the Golden Gate, and throughout those months continued to engage with the Byzantine fleet which defended the harbour from morning to evening.
Knowing that it was only a matter of time before Constantinople was under siege, Constantine had ensured that the city was well provisioned. He also constructed a large number of fireships and fast-sailing boats provided with tubes or siphons for squirting fire. This is the first known use of Greek fire in combat, which was one of the key advantages that the Byzantines possessed. In September, the Arabs having failed in their attempts to take the city, sailed to Cyzicus, which they made their winter quarters. Over the following five years, the Arabs would return each spring to continue the siege of Constantinople, but with the same results. The city survived, and finally in 678 the Arabs were forced to raise the siege. The Arabs withdrew and were almost simultaneously defeated on land in Lycia in Anatolia. This unexpected reverse forced Muawiyah I to seek a truce with Constantine. The terms of the concluded truce required the Arabs to evacuate the islands they had seized in the Aegean, and to pay an annual tribute to the Emperor consisting of fifty slaves, fifty horses, and 3,000 pounds of gold. The raising of the siege allowed Constantine to go to the relief of Thessalonika, still under siege from the Slavs.
The eldest son of Constans II, Constantine IV had been named a co-emperor with his father in 654. He had been given the responsibility of managing the affairs at Constantinople during his father’s extended absence in Italy and became senior Emperor when Constans was assassinated in 668. His mother was Fausta, daughter of patrician Valentinus.
The first task before the new Emperor was the suppression of the military revolt in Sicily under Mezezius which had led to his father's death. Within seven months of his accession, Constantine IV had dealt with the insurgency with the support of Pope Vitalian. But this success was overshadowed by troubles in the east.
As early as 668 the Caliph Muawiyah I received an invitation from Saborios, the commander of the troops in Armenia, to help overthrow the Emperor at Constantinople. He sent an army under his son Yazid against the Eastern Roman Empire. Yazid reached Chalcedon and took the important Byzantine center Amorion. While the city was quickly recovered, the Arabs next attacked Carthage and Sicily in 669. In 670 the Arabs captured Cyzicus and set up a base from which to launch further attacks into the heart of the Empire. Their fleet captured Smyrna and other coastal cities in 672. Finally, in 672, the Arabs sent a large fleet to attack Constantinople by sea. While Constantine was distracted by this, the Slavs unsuccessfully attacked Thessalonika.
Constantine had altogether more colourful plans. Having restored the unity of the Empire, and, being in course of major governmental reforms as well as of sponsoring the consolidation of the Christian church, he was well aware that Rome was an unsatisfactory capital. Rome was too far from the frontiers, and hence from the armies and the imperial courts, and it offered an undesirable playground for disaffected politicians. Yet it had been the capital of the state for over a thousand years, and it might have seemed unthinkable to suggest that the capital be moved to a different location. Nevertheless, Constantine identified the site of Byzantium as the right place: a place where an emperor could sit, readily defended, with easy access to the Danube or the Euphrates frontiers, his court supplied from the rich gardens and sophisticated workshops of Roman Asia, his treasuries filled by the wealthiest provinces of the Empire.
Constantinople was built over 6 years, and consecrated on 11 May 330. Constantine divided the expanded city, like Rome, into 14 regions, and ornamented it with public works worthy of an imperial metropolis. Yet, at first, Constantine's new Rome did not have all the dignities of old Rome. It possessed a proconsul, rather than an urban prefect. It had no praetors, tribunes, or quaestors. Although it did have senators, they held the title clarus, not clarissimus, like those of Rome. It also lacked the panoply of other administrative offices regulating the food supply, police, statues, temples, sewers, aqueducts, or other public works. The new programme of building was carried out in great haste: columns, marbles, doors, and tiles were taken wholesale from the temples of the empire and moved to the new city. In similar fashion, many of the greatest works of Greek and Roman art were soon to be seen in its squares and streets. The emperor stimulated private building by promising householders gifts of land from the imperial estates in Asiana and Pontica and on 18 May 332 he announced that, as in Rome, free distributions of food would be made to the citizens. At the time, the amount is said to have been 80,000 rations a day, doled out from 117 distribution points around the city.
Constantine laid out a new square at the centre of old Byzantium, naming it the Augustaeum. The new senate-house (or Curia) was housed in a basilica on the east side. On the south side of the great square was erected the Great Palace of the Emperor with its imposing entrance, the Chalke, and its ceremonial suite known as the Palace of Daphne. Nearby was the vast Hippodrome for chariot-races, seating over 80,000 spectators, and the famed Baths of Zeuxippus. At the western entrance to the Augustaeum was the Milion, a vaulted monument from which distances were measured across the Eastern Roman Empire.
From the Augustaeum led a great street, the Mese (Greek: Μέση [Οδός] lit. "Middle [Street]"), lined with colonnades. As it descended the First Hill of the city and climbed the Second Hill, it passed on the left the Praetorium or law-court. Then it passed through the oval Forum of Constantine where there was a second Senate-house and a high column with a statue of Constantine himself in the guise of Helios, crowned with a halo of seven rays and looking toward the rising sun. From there the Mese passed on and through the Forum Tauri and then the Forum Bovis, and finally up the Seventh Hill (or Xerolophus) and through to the Golden Gate in the Constantinian Wall. After the construction of the Theodosian Walls in the early 5th century, it was extended to the new Golden Gate, reaching a total length of seven Roman miles.
The emperor Justinian I (527–565) was known for his successes in war, for his legal reforms and for his public works. It was from Constantinople that his expedition for the reconquest of the former Diocese of Africa set sail on or about 21 June 533. Before their departure, the ship of the commander Belisarius was anchored in front of the Imperial palace, and the Patriarch offered prayers for the success of the enterprise. After the victory, in 534, the Temple treasure of Jerusalem, looted by the Romans in 70 AD and taken to Carthage by the Vandals after their sack of Rome in 455, was brought to Constantinople and deposited for a time, perhaps in the Church of St. Polyeuctus, before being returned to Jerusalem in either the Church of the Resurrection or the New Church.
Chariot-racing had been important in Rome for centuries. In Constantinople, the hippodrome became over time increasingly a place of political significance. It was where (as a shadow of the popular elections of old Rome) the people by acclamation showed their approval of a new emperor, and also where they openly criticized the government, or clamoured for the removal of unpopular ministers. In the time of Justinian, public order in Constantinople became a critical political issue.
Throughout the late Roman and early Byzantine periods, Christianity was resolving fundamental questions of identity, and the dispute between the orthodox and the monophysites became the cause of serious disorder, expressed through allegiance to the horse-racing parties of the Blues and the Greens. The partisans of the Blues and the Greens were said to affect untrimmed facial hair, head hair shaved at the front and grown long at the back, and wide-sleeved tunics tight at the wrist; and to form gangs to engage in night-time muggings and street violence. At last these disorders took the form of a major rebellion of 532, known as the "Nika" riots (from the battle-cry of "Victory!" of those involved).
Fires started by the Nika rioters consumed Constantine's basilica of St Sophia, the city's principal church, which lay to the north of the Augustaeum. Justinian commissioned Anthemius of Tralles and Isidore of Miletus to replace it with a new and incomparable St Sophia. This was the great cathedral of the Orthodox Church, whose dome was said to be held aloft by God alone, and which was directly connected to the palace so that the imperial family could attend services without passing through the streets. The dedication took place on 26 December 537 in the presence of the emperor, who exclaimed, "O Solomon, I have outdone thee!" St Sophia was served by 600 people including 80 priests, and cost 20,000 pounds of gold to build.
Justinian also had Anthemius and Isidore demolish and replace the original Church of the Holy Apostles built by Constantine with a new church under the same dedication. This was designed in the form of an equal-armed cross with five domes, and ornamented with beautiful mosaics. This church was to remain the burial place of the Emperors from Constantine himself until the 11th century. When the city fell to the Turks in 1453, the church was demolished to make room for the tomb of Mehmet II the Conqueror. Justinian was also concerned with other aspects of the city's built environment, legislating against the abuse of laws prohibiting building within 100 feet (30 m) of the sea front, in order to protect the view.
During Justinian I's reign, the city's population reached about 500,000 people. However, the social fabric of Constantinople was also damaged by the onset of the Plague of Justinian between 541–542 AD. It killed perhaps 40% of the city's inhabitants.
n the 730s Leo III carried out extensive repairs of the Theodosian walls, which had been damaged by frequent and violent attacks; this work was financed by a special tax on all the subjects of the Empire.
Theodora, widow of the Emperor Theophilus (died 842), acted as regent during the minority of her son Michael III, who was said to have been introduced to dissolute habits by her brother Bardas. When Michael assumed power in 856, he became known for excessive drunkenness, appeared in the hippodrome as a charioteer and burlesqued the religious processions of the clergy. He removed Theodora from the Great Palace to the Carian Palace and later to the monastery of Gastria, but, after the death of Bardas, she was released to live in the palace of St Mamas; she also had a rural residence at the Anthemian Palace, where Michael was assassinated in 867.
In 860, an attack was made on the city by a new principality set up a few years earlier at Kiev by Askold and Dir, two Varangian chiefs: Two hundred small vessels passed through the Bosporus and plundered the monasteries and other properties on the suburban Prince's Islands. Oryphas, the admiral of the Byzantine fleet, alerted the emperor Michael, who promptly put the invaders to flight; but the suddenness and savagery of the onslaught made a deep impression on the citizens.
In 980, the emperor Basil II received an unusual gift from Prince Vladimir of Kiev: 6,000 Varangian warriors, which Basil formed into a new bodyguard known as the Varangian Guard. They were known for their ferocity, honour, and loyalty. It is said that, in 1038, they were dispersed in winter quarters in the Thracesian theme when one of their number attempted to violate a countrywoman, but in the struggle she seized his sword and killed him; instead of taking revenge, however, his comrades applauded her conduct, compensated her with all his possessions, and exposed his body without burial as if he had committed suicide. However, following the death of an Emperor, they became known also for plunder in the Imperial palaces. Later in the 11th Century the Varangian Guard became dominated by Anglo-Saxons who preferred this way of life to subjugation by the new Norman kings of England.
The Book of the Eparch, which dates to the 10th century, gives a detailed picture of the city's commercial life and its organization at that time. The corporations in which the tradesmen of Constantinople were organised were supervised by the Eparch, who regulated such matters as production, prices, import, and export. Each guild had its own monopoly, and tradesmen might not belong to more than one. It is an impressive testament to the strength of tradition how little these arrangements had changed since the office, then known by the Latin version of its title, had been set up in 330 to mirror the urban prefecture of Rome.
With the restoration of firm central government, the empire became fabulously wealthy. The population was rising (estimates for Constantinople in the 12th century vary from some 100,000 to 500,000), and towns and cities across the realm flourished. Meanwhile, the volume of money in circulation dramatically increased. This was reflected in Constantinople by the construction of the Blachernae palace, the creation of brilliant new works of art, and general prosperity at this time: an increase in trade, made possible by the growth of the Italian city-states, may have helped the growth of the economy. It is certain that the Venetians and others were active traders in Constantinople, making a living out of shipping goods between the Crusader Kingdoms of Outremer and the West, while also trading extensively with Byzantium and Egypt. The Venetians had factories on the north side of the Golden Horn, and large numbers of westerners were present in the city throughout the 12th century. Toward the end of Manuel I Komnenos's reign, the number of foreigners in the city reached about 60,000–80,000 people out of a total population of about 400,000 people. In 1171, Constantinople also contained a small community of 2,500 Jews. In 1182, all Latin (Western European) inhabitants of Constantinople were massacred.
On 25 July 1197, Constantinople was struck by a severe fire which burned the Latin Quarter and the area around the Gate of the Droungarios (Turkish: Odun Kapısı) on the Golden Horn. Nevertheless, the destruction wrought by the 1197 fire paled in comparison with that brought by the Crusaders. In the course of a plot between Philip of Swabia, Boniface of Montferrat and the Doge of Venice, the Fourth Crusade was, despite papal excommunication, diverted in 1203 against Constantinople, ostensibly promoting the claims of Alexius, son of the deposed emperor Isaac. The reigning emperor Alexius III had made no preparation. The Crusaders occupied Galata, broke the defensive chain protecting the Golden Horn and entered the harbour, where on 27 July they breached the sea walls: Alexius III fled. But the new Alexius IV found the Treasury inadequate, and was unable to make good the rewards he had promised to his western allies. Tension between the citizens and the Latin soldiers increased. In January 1204, the protovestiarius Alexius Murzuphlus provoked a riot, it is presumed, to intimidate Alexius IV, but whose only result was the destruction of the great statue of Athena, the work of Phidias, which stood in the principal forum facing west.
In February, the people rose again: Alexius IV was imprisoned and executed, and Murzuphlus took the purple as Alexius V. He made some attempt to repair the walls and organise the citizenry, but there had been no opportunity to bring in troops from the provinces and the guards were demoralised by the revolution. An attack by the Crusaders on 6 April failed, but a second from the Golden Horn on 12 April succeeded, and the invaders poured in. Alexius V fled. The Senate met in St Sophia and offered the crown to Theodore Lascaris, who had married into the Angelid family, but it was too late. He came out with the Patriarch to the Golden Milestone before the Great Palace and addressed the Varangian Guard. Then the two of them slipped away with many of the nobility and embarked for Asia. By the next day the Doge and the leading Franks were installed in the Great Palace, and the city was given over to pillage for three days.
For the next half-century, Constantinople was the seat of the Latin Empire. Under the rulers of the Latin Empire, the city declined, both in population and the condition of its buildings. Alice-Mary Talbot cites an estimated population for Constantinople of 400,000 inhabitants; after the destruction wrought by the Crusaders on the city, about one third were homeless, and numerous courtiers, nobility, and higher clergy, followed various leading personages into exile. "As a result Constantinople became seriously depopulated," Talbot concludes.
The Latins took over at least 20 churches and 13 monasteries, most prominently the Hagia Sophia, which became the cathedral of the Latin Patriarch of Constantinople. It is to these that E.H. Swift attributed the construction of a series of flying buttresses to shore up the walls of the church, which had been weakened over the centuries by earthquake tremors. However, this act of maintenance is an exception: for the most part, the Latin occupiers were too few to maintain all of the buildings, either secular and sacred, and many became targets for vandalism or dismantling. Bronze and lead were removed from the roofs of abandoned buildings and melted down and sold to provide money to the chronically under-funded Empire for defense and to support the court; Deno John Geanokoplos writes that "it may well be that a division is suggested here: Latin laymen stripped secular buildings, ecclesiastics, the churches." Buildings were not the only targets of officials looking to raise funds for the impoverished Latin Empire: the monumental sculptures which adorned the Hippodrome and fora of the city were pulled down and melted for coinage. "Among the masterpieces destroyed, writes Talbot, "were a Herakles attributed to the fourth-century B.C. sculptor Lysippos, and monumental figures of Hera, Paris, and Helen."
The Nicaean emperor John III Vatatzes reportedly saved several churches from being dismantled for their valuable building materials; by sending money to the Latins "to buy them off" (exonesamenos), he prevented the destruction of several churches. According to Talbot, these included the churches of Blachernae, Rouphinianai, and St. Michael at Anaplous. He also granted funds for the restoration of the Church of the Holy Apostles, which had been seriously damaged in an earthquake.
The Byzantine nobility scattered, many going to Nicaea, where Theodore Lascaris set up an imperial court, or to Epirus, where Theodore Angelus did the same; others fled to Trebizond, where one of the Comneni had already with Georgian support established an independent seat of empire. Nicaea and Epirus both vied for the imperial title, and tried to recover Constantinople. In 1261, Constantinople was captured from its last Latin ruler, Baldwin II, by the forces of the Nicaean emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos.
Although Constantinople was retaken by Michael VIII Palaiologos, the Empire had lost many of its key economic resources, and struggled to survive. The palace of Blachernae in the north-west of the city became the main Imperial residence, with the old Great Palace on the shores of the Bosporus going into decline. When Michael VIII captured the city, its population was 35,000 people, but, by the end of his reign, he had succeeded in increasing the population to about 70,000 people. The Emperor achieved this by summoning former residents having fled the city when the Crusaders captured it, and by relocating Greeks from the recently reconquered Peloponnese to the capital. In 1347, the Black Death spread to Constantinople. In 1453, when the Ottoman Turks captured the city, it contained approximately 50,000 people.
Constantinople was conquered by an invading army of the Ottoman Empire on Tuesday, 29 May 1453. The Ottomans were commanded by 21-year-old Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II. The conquest of Constantinople followed a seven-week siege that had begun on Friday, 6 April 1453. After the initial assault, the Ottoman Army fanned out along the main thoroughfare of the city, the Mese, past the great forums, and past the Church of the Holy Apostles, which Mehmed II wanted to provide a seat for his newly appointed patriarch which would help him better control his Christian subjects. Mehmed II had sent an advance guard to protect key buildings such as the Church of the Holy Apostles.
A small few lucky civilians managed to escape. When the Venetians retreated over to their ships, the Ottomans had already taken the walls of the Golden Horn, luckily for them, the Ottomans were not interested in killing them but more in the loot they could get from raiding the city's houses, so they decided to attack the city and not them. The Venetian captain ordered his men to break open the gate of the Golden Horn, after they did, they left with ships filled with Venetian soldiers and refugees. Shortly after they left a few Genoese ships and even the Emperor's ships followed them out of the Golden Horn. This was done in perfect timing because shortly after they had left, the Ottoman navy had control over the Golden Horn by midday. The Army converged upon the Augusteum, the vast square that fronted the great church of Hagia Sophia whose bronze gates were barred by a huge throng of civilians inside the building, hoping for divine protection. After the doors were breached, the troops separated the congregation according to what price they might bring in the slave markets. Mehmed II allowed his troops to plunder the city for three days as it was customary. Soldiers fought over the possession of some of the spoils of war. According to the Venetian surgeon Nicolò Barbaro "all through the day the Turks made a great slaughter of Christians through the city". According to Philip Mansel thousands of civilians were killed and 30,000 civilians were enslaved or deported.
Finally, the Christian Orthodox city of Constantinople was under Ottoman control. When Mehmed II finally entered Constantinople through what is now known as the Topkapi Gate, he immediately rode his horse to the Hagia Sophia, which he ordered to be sacked. He ordered that an imam meet him there in order to chant the Shahada, the Islamic creed which declares belief in the oneness of God and acceptance of Muhammad as God's prophet” This act transformed the Orthodox cathedral into a Muslim mosque, solidifying Islamic rule in Constantinople.
Mehmed’s main concern with Constantinople had to do with rebuilding the city’s defenses and repopulation. Building projects were commenced immediately after the conquest, which included the repair of the walls, construction of the citadel, and building a new palace. Mehmed issued orders across his empire that Muslims, Christians, and Jews should resettle the city; he demanded that five thousand households needed to be transferred to Constantinople by September. From all over the Islamic empire, prisoners of war and deported people were sent to the city: these people were called "Sürgün" in Turkish (Greek: σουργουνιδες). Two centuries later, Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi gave a list of groups introduced into the city with their respective origins. Even today, many quarters of Istanbul, such as Aksaray, Çarşamba, bear the names of the places of origin of their inhabitants. However, many people escaped again from the city, and there were several outbreaks of plague, so that in 1459 Mehmet allowed the deported Greeks to come back to the city.
The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the tournament for the association football world championship, which took place at several venues across Brazil. Germany won the tournament and took its fourth title, its first since the reunification of West and East Germany in 1990, by defeating Argentina 1–0 in the final.
It began on 12 June with a group stage and concluded on 13 July with the championship match. It was the second time that Brazil has hosted the competition, the first being in 1950. Brazil was elected unchallenged as host nation in 2007 after the international football federation, FIFA, decreed that the tournament would be staged in South America for the first time since 1978 in Argentina, and the fifth time overall.
The national teams of 31 countries advanced through qualification competitions that began in June 2011 to participate with the host nation Brazil in the final tournament. A total of 64 matches were played in 12 cities across Brazil in either new or redeveloped stadiums. For the first time at a World Cup finals, match officials used goal-line technology, as well as vanishing foam for free kicks.
All world champion teams since the first World Cup in 1930 – Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Uruguay – qualified for this competition. The title holders, Spain, were eliminated at the group stage, along with previous winners England and Italy. Uruguay was eliminated in the Round of 16 and France was eliminated at the quarter-finals. Host and 2013 Confederations Cup winner Brazil lost to Germany in the first semi-final. By winning the final, Germany became the first European team to win a World Cup in the Americas. This result marked the first time that sides from the same continent had won three successive World Cups (following Italy in 2006 and Spain in 2010).
As the winners, Germany qualified for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup. During the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the FIFA Fan Fest in the host cities received 5 million people, and the country received 1 million guests from 202 countries.
The 32 participating teams were drawn into eight groups. In preparation for this, the teams were organised into four pots with the seven highest-ranked teams joining host nation Brazil in the seeded pot. As with the previous tournaments, FIFA aimed to create groups which maximised geographic separation and therefore the unseeded teams were arranged into pots based on geographic considerations. The draw took place on 6 December 2013 at the Costa do Sauípe resort in Bahia, during which the teams were drawn by various past World Cup-winning players. Under the draw procedure, one randomly drawn team – Italy – was firstly relocated from Pot 4 to Pot 2 to create four equal pots of eight teams.
In March 2013, FIFA published a list of 52 prospective referees, each paired, on the basis of nationality, with two assistant referees, from all six football confederations for the tournament. On 14 January 2014, the FIFA Referees Committee appointed 25 referee trios and eight support duos representing 43 different countries for the tournament. Yuichi Nishimura from Japan acted as referee in the opening match whereas Nicola Rizzoli from Italy acted as referee in the final.
As with the 2010 tournament, each team's squad consists of 23 players (three of whom must be goalkeepers). Each participating national association had to confirm their final 23-player squad no later than 10 days before the start of the tournament. Teams were permitted to make late replacements in the event of serious injury, at any time up to 24 hours before their first game. During a match, all remaining squad members not named in the starting team are available to be one of the three permitted substitutions (provided the player is not serving a suspension).
12 venues (seven new and five renovated) in twelve cities were selected for the tournament. The venues covered all the main regions of Brazil and created more evenly distributed hosting than the 1950 finals in Brazil. Consequently, the tournament required long-distance travel for teams. During the World Cup, Brazilian cities were also home to the participating teams at 32 separate base camps, as well as staging official fan fests where supporters could view the games.
To avoid ghost goals the 2014 World Cup introduced goal-line technology following successful trials at among others 2013 Confederations Cup. The chosen Goal Control system featured 14 high speed cameras, 7 directed to each of the goals. Data were sent to the central image-processing centre, where a virtual representation of the ball was output on a widescreen to confirm the goal. The referee was equipped with a watch which vibrated and displayed a signal upon a goal. France's second goal in their group game against Honduras was the first time goal-line technology was needed to confirm that a goal should be given.
Following successful trials,[nb 4] FIFA approved the use of vanishing foam by the referees for the first time at a World Cup Finals. The water-based spray, which disappears within minutes of application, can be used to mark a ten-yard line for the defending team during a free kick and also to draw where the ball is to be placed for a free kick.
The Adidas Brazuca was the official match ball of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and was supplied by Forward Sports of Sialkot, Pakistan. Adidas created a new design of ball after criticisms of the Adidas Jabulani used in the previous World Cup. The number of panels was reduced to six, with the panels being thermally bonded. This created a ball with increased consistency and aerodynamics compared to its predecessor. Furthermore Adidas underwent an extensive testing process lasting more than two years to produce a ball that would meet the approval of football professionals.
The biological passport was introduced in the FIFA World Cup starting in 2014. Blood and urine samples from all players before the competition, and from two players per team per match, are analysed by the Swiss Laboratory for Doping Analyses. FIFA reported that 91.5% of the players taking part in the tournament were tested before the start of the competition and none tested positive. However, FIFA was criticised for its approach towards finding doping offences.
In the knockout stage there were four rounds (round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and the final), with each eliminating the losers. The two semi-final losers competed in a third place play-off. For any match in the knockout stage, a draw after 90 minutes of regulation time was followed by two 15 minute periods of extra time to determine a winner. If the teams were still tied, a penalty shoot-out was held to determine a winner.
The match schedule was announced on 20 October 2011 with the kick-off times being confirmed on 27 September 2012; after the final draw, the kick-off times of seven matches were adjusted by FIFA. The competition was organised so that teams that played each other in the group stage could not meet again during the knockout phase until the final (or the 3rd place match). The group stage began on 12 June, with the host nation competing in the opening game as has been the format since the 2006 tournament. The opening game was preceded by an opening ceremony that began at 15:15 local time.
The group stage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup took place in Brazil from 12 June 2014 to 26 June 2014: each team played three games. The group stage was notable for a scarcity of draws and a large number of goals. The first drawn (and goalless) match did not occur until the 13th match of the tournament, between Iran and Nigeria: a drought longer than any World Cup since 1930. The group stage produced a total of 136 goals, nine fewer than were scored during the entire 2010 tournament. This is the largest number of goals in the group stage since the 32-team system was implemented in 1998 and the largest average in a group stage since 1958. World Cup holders Spain were eliminated after only two games, the quickest exit for the defending champions since Italy's from the 1950 tournament.
For the first time since the introduction of a round of 16 after the group stage in 1986, all the group winners advanced into the quarterfinals. They included four teams from UEFA, three from CONMEBOL, and one from CONCACAF. Of the eight matches, five required extra-time, and two of these required penalty shoot-outs; this was the first time penalty shoot-outs happened in more than one game in a round of 16.[nb 5] The goal average per game in the round of 16 was 2.25, a drop of 0.58 goals per game from the group stage. The eight teams to win in the round of 16 included four former champions (Brazil, Germany, Argentina and France), a three-time runner up (Netherlands), and two first-time quarterfinalists (Colombia and Costa Rica). Belgium reached their first quarterfinals since 1986.
With a 1–0 victory over France, Germany set a World Cup record with four consecutive semi-final appearances. Brazil beat Colombia 2–1, but Brazil's Neymar was injured and missed the rest of the competition. Argentina reached the final four for the first time since 1990 after a 1–0 win over Belgium. The Netherlands reached the semi-finals for the second consecutive tournament, after overcoming Costa Rica in a penalty shoot-out following a 0–0 draw at the end of extra time.
Germany qualified for the final for the eighth time with a 7–1 win over Brazil – the biggest defeat in Brazilian history since 1920. Miroslav Klose's goal in this match was his 16th in all World Cups, breaking the record he had previously shared with Ronaldo. Klose set another record by becoming the first player to appear in four World Cup semi-finals. Argentina reached their first final since 1990, and the fifth overall after overcoming Netherlands in a penalty shoot-out following a 0–0 draw at the end of extra time.
The Netherlands defeated Brazil 3–0 to secure third place, the first for the Dutch team in their history. Overall, Brazil conceded 14 goals in the tournament; this was the most by a team at any single World Cup since 1986, and the most by a host nation in history. (But 1954 hosts Switzerland conceded more goals per match, 2.25 vs. 2.00; and many more teams conceded more than 2.00 goals per match after 1986.)
Despite the early exit of reigning champions Spain and previous champions Italy in the group stage, this marked the first time that teams from the same continent had won three consecutive World Cups (following Italy in 2006 and Spain in 2010). It was also the first time that a European nation had won the World Cup in the Americas. On aggregate Europe now has 11 victories, compared to South America's 9 victories.
The most notable disciplinary case was that of Uruguayan striker Luis Suárez, who was suspended for nine international matches and banned from taking part in any football-related activity (including entering any stadium) for four months, following a biting incident on Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini. He was also fined CHF100,000. After an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, Suárez was later allowed to participate in training and friendly matches with new club Barcelona.
The Castrol Index that evaluated player performances through statistical data finished with the following players leading each position (Toni Kroos was the overall leader). Despite winning the Golden Ball, Lionel Messi was not included in the team.
Forecasts on the eve of the tournament estimated that the cost to the Brazilian government would be US$14 billion, making it the most expensive World Cup to date. FIFA is expected to spend US$2 billion on staging the finals, with its greatest single expense being the US$576 million prize money pot.
Although organisers originally estimated costs of US$1.1 billion, a reported US$3.6 billion was ultimately spent on stadium works. Five of the chosen host cities had brand new venues built specifically for the World Cup, while the Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha in the capital Brasília was demolished and rebuilt, with the remaining six being extensively renovated.
An additional R$3 billion (US$1.3 billion, €960 million, £780 million at June 2014 rates) was earmarked by the Brazilian government for investment in infrastructure works and projects for use during the 2014 World Cup and beyond. However, the failed completion of many of the proposed works provoked discontent among some Brazilians.
The Brazilian government pledged US$900 million to be invested into security forces and that the tournament would be "one of the most protected sports events in history."
For a fourth consecutive FIFA World Cup Finals, the coverage was provided by HBS (Host Broadcast Services), a subsidiary of Infront Sports & Media. Sony was selected as the official equipment provider and built 12 bespoke high definition production 40-foot-long containers, one for each tournament venue, to house the extensive amount of equipment required. Each match utilised 37 standard camera plans, including Aerial and Cablecam, two Ultramotion cameras and dedicated cameras for interviews. The official tournament film, as well as three matches,[nb 6] will be filmed with ultra high definition technology (4K resolution), following a successful trial at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup.
The broadcasting rights – covering television, radio, internet and mobile coverage – for the tournament were sold to media companies in each individual territory either directly by FIFA, or through licensed companies or organisations such as the European Broadcasting Union, Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana, International Media Content, Dentsu and RS International Broadcasting & Sports Management. The sale of these rights accounted for an estimated 60% of FIFA's income from staging a World Cup. The International Broadcast Centre was situated at the Riocentro in the Barra da Tijuca neighbourhood of Rio de Janeiro.
Worldwide, several games qualified as the most-watched sporting events in their country in 2014, including 42.9 million people in Brazil for the opening game between Brazil and Croatia, the 34.1 million in Japan who saw their team play Ivory Coast, and 34.7 million in Germany who saw their national team win the World Cup against Argentina, while the 24.7 million viewers during the game between the USA and Portugal is joint with the 2010 final as the most-watched football game in the United States.
# 2015-06-09T11:09:11.159935
# http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-end-of-the-erdogan-era
As he grew stronger, Erdoğan constructed a cult of personality about himself, which made him stronger still. He dominated the news, often appearing on television several times a day, commenting on or inserting himself into seemingly every question in public life. He denounced Israel, and often made surreal comments about Jews and Jewish conspiracies. His assertive foreign policy, aimed at supporting the Islamist parties that emerged in the early Arab Spring, seemed to revive, for many Turks, the glory days of the Ottoman Empire. He began to build a third bridge across the Bosporus, and started construction on a new airport, planned to be the world’s largest, which he named after himself.
The pièce de résistance was the new Presidential palace, which was completed last year and is now Erdoğan’s home. It’s fit for a monarch: it has a thousand rooms, cost $600 million, and employs five full-time food testers, who make sure Erdoğan’s food is not poisoned.
Then, in December 2013, three members of Erdoğan’s cabinet, whose sons were implicated in a corruption scandal, resigned, with one of them calling on Erdoğan himself to quit. When the lead prosecutor in the case began to target Erdogan’s son, the Prime Minister dismissed him, beginning a massive purge of police and prosecutors around the country who were believed to be disloyal.
The Turkish experience with coalition governments is not a happy one, and Turkey may be entering a period of instability, on which Erdoğan would be only too happy to capitalize. But for now, the voters of Turkey deserve a salute. Their election is gratifying enough to recall that famous maxim of democratic rule: “You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time. But you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.”
Whether abroad or at home, it’s easy to get disheartened by democracy: sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But every now and then a moment arrives that wipes away our doubts and reaffirms our hopes in the wisdom of the democratic idea. One such moment came yesterday in Turkey, where voters decisively turned back President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s march to authoritarian rule.
Obviously oblivious to the growing dissatisfaction around him, Erdoğan made clear, as this year’s elections approached, that he wanted to re-write the constitution in order to gain more power for the Presidency. The changes that Erdoğan was proposing were not just troubling in their own right but they seemed to signal his desire to stay in power for a long time. Increasingly, his role model appeared to be that elected autocrat to the north, Vladimir Putin.
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The most egregious illustration of Erdoğan’s authoritarianism was his government’s jailing of journalists. In 2012, ninety-four reporters and editors were in prison in Turkey, more than anywhere else in the world. (After widespread condemnation, the number has fallen to seven, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.)
For years, Erdoğan seemed unstoppable. First elected Prime Minister in 2003, Erdoğan came to power as a moderate Islamist reformer who overturned decades of rule by an unresponsive secular élite that, backed by the military, had dominated the Turkish Republic since its founding, in 1923. In his first years in office, Erdoğan did indeed act as the reformer he claimed to be. He liberalized the economy, granted new rights to Turkey’s long-suppressed Kurdish minority, and, most of all, gave voice to the majority: moderately religious Turks who wanted a greater say in the way the country was governed. During those years, Erdoğan was seen as the great hope of the Islamic world, the moderate Islamist who could bridge the divide with the West. Under Erdoğan, Turkey seemed to be a reasonable candidate to join the European Union.
For now, Erdoğan appears stopped in his tracks. His party, Justice and Development, captured more seats in parliament than any other but fell short of a majority. That probably means Erdoğan’s party will be forced to form a coalition government. Most important, the momentum, and the votes, to remake the constitution are no longer there.
Despite the excesses, Erdoğan kept rising. After two terms as Prime Minister, he was, in 2011, elected President; and though on paper the new job had less power than his old one, it was widely understood that Erdoğan was in charge and that his Prime Minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu, was a mere satrap. He told Turkish women to have at least three children, declaring that their “delicate nature” rendered them unequal to men. He threatened to ban Facebook and briefly banned Twitter, the latter after people posted wiretaps of conversations that appeared to reference corrupt activities.
The turn against Erdoğan began on a small plot of land in central Istanbul called Gezi Park. In 2013, Erdoğan announced plans to replace the park with a shopping mall and a monument to Turkey’s Ottoman past. People gathered in the park to protest the decision, but the demonstrations grew rapidly into a broad protest against Erdoğan’s autocratic style, with gatherings in ninety cities.  Erdoğan dismissed the demonstrators, who numbered in the hundreds of thousands, as a “few looters,’’ and then turned loose the police in Gezi Park. When the demonstrators were finally dispersed, eleven of them were dead and thousands had been injured or arrested. Among other things, the move dashed any hopes of getting Turkey into the European Union anytime soon.
Erdoğan dashed those hopes—slowly at first, and then, increasingly, in bombastic and megalomaniacal fashion. Beginning in 2007, he launched an extraordinary campaign to crush the secular-liberal-military establishment that formed the opposition. Prosecutors targeted generals, police officers, politicians, university professors, newspaper editors—anyone who represented a threat to the new Islamist order. The campaign made use of make-believe conspiracies with names like “Ergenekon’’ and “Sledgehammer,’’ which Erdoğan and his cronies claimed were aimed at taking over the country. More than seven hundred people were charged in these conspiracies, and many went to prison, despite the fact that even a cursory examination of the evidence showed that it was largely fabricated.
# 2015-06-09T11:10:07.978102
# http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-32831854
The fall of Mosul marked the start of a lightning advance across the north that saw the army routed and hundreds of thousands of people forced to flee their homes.
"When my brother handed himself in, they found out that the accusations against him were false but they still kept me in prison until they judged me well enough to leave.
"But one day I came home and found my little brother drawing Islamic State's flag and humming one of its most famous songs. I went crazy and began yelling at him.
Hisham: "Daily life has changed in an indescribable way. Those who were in the military and day labourers no longer have any income because there are no jobs anymore. The rich have been relying on their savings, those with a salary are just about getting by, but the poor have been left to the mercy of God.
Mahmoud: "My 12-year-old brother remained in school despite the fact that it became controlled by IS. We thought that, with no alternative available, he would at least be able to continue some sort of education, and that it would be better than nothing.
Life for the city's residents has changed beyond recognition. The footage reveals how fuel is in short supply, pollution widespread, construction halted and many schools closed.
"I took the drawing and tore it to pieces in front of him. He got scared, ran to our mother and started crying. I warned him that should he ever draw that flag again or recite one of those people's songs, I would ground him, ban him from seeing his friends and stop talking to him altogether.
"Theft is punished by amputating a hand, adultery by men by throwing the offender from a high building, and adultery by women by stoning to death. The punishments are carried out in public to intimidate people, who are often forced to watch.
"We had heard stories of men being flogged because their wives didn't put their gloves on. Another woman's parents were banned from driving their car. Those who objected would be beaten and humiliated.
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"I do worry about how the army will take the city though. I think the violations committed in Tikrit by the Popular Mobilisation [a pro-government volunteer force comprising mostly Shia militias] are going to happen in the Nineveh Plains and Mosul, and that the whole situation will just be whitewashed again.
"I was very happy to oblige and so I revealed my face with a large smile. Instantly, the restaurant's owner came over begging my husband to ask me to hide it again because Islamic State fighters made surprise inspection visits and he would be flogged if they saw me like that.
"Then they tortured me. The guy who did it wouldn't stop unless he got tired. He was edgy all the time and he wouldn't listen to what his prisoners said. He flogged me with a power cable and also tortured me psychologically.
The footage reveals how homes belonging to Mosul's ethnic and religious minority communities have been confiscated by Islamic State. Many residential areas once popular with minorities now stand empty.
Mariam, a gynaecologist who is a Christian: "I'm known to be an avid reader and own a large collection of books. My collection kept on growing as friends and family leaving Iraq used to send me their books because they knew I wasn't going to leave and that I would take care of them.
The videos, filmed over several months last year, reveal the reality of life under IS. The first series shows how women are forced to cover up, with one woman challenged for not having her hands fully covered.
"Despite this, if the government manages to take Nineveh Plains and Mosul back I will be very happy. I hope that the internally displaced people and refugees will be able to return so that we can work together to build a safe and united Iraq. IS is the enemy of humanity.
"I have lost my job and have been forced to abandon my studies. Like everyone else, I am denied my basic rights. According to IS, everything is 'haram' (forbidden) and so I end up just sitting at home all the time. Even simple leisure activities like picnics are banned now in Mosul, under the pretext that they are a waste of time and money.
Fouad: "I was arrested by IS. They came to our family home looking for my brother. When they couldn't find him, they decided to take me to prison instead.
"IS takes a quarter of everyone's salary as a contribution towards paying for rebuilding the city. People can't say no because they would face harsh punishments. The group controls everything. Rent is paid to it and the hospitals are for its members' exclusive use.
"I was threatened and harassed [by Sunni extremists] before the capture of Mosul, but I kept on delivering babies for women from all religions and sects. I never differentiate between my patients as I believe everyone deserves equal care.
Footage also shows how the militants have used increasingly sophisticated techniques to control the city's population, such as "media points" to disseminate their messages.
"After moving to Irbil [in Iraq's Kurdistan region] I received shocking news: Islamic State had confiscated my house and marked it with the letter 'N' [for Nasrani - a word used by IS to refer to Christians]. I immediately telephoned my friends in Mosul and begged them to save my books.
"We complied with the owner's request. I started wondering about how ignorant and merciless the state of affairs had become. As we left the restaurant, I saw a father searching for his daughter, who was concealed in a sea of blackness."
"The group has even replaced the imams in the mosques with pro-IS people. Many of us have stopped going to the mosques because those attending are asked to give an oath of allegiance and we hate that.
"But it was too late. They called back saying my library had been emptied onto the street. However, some of my neighbours were able to rescue some precious books that remain hidden."
"We went to a nice restaurant by the river we used to frequent during our engagement. As soon as we sat down, my husband told me that I could finally reveal my face as there was no IS presence and the restaurant was a place for families.
Secretly filmed videos obtained by the BBC's Ghadi Sary show mosques being blown up, abandoned schools, and women being forced to cover up their bodies.
"One day I felt so bored at home that I asked my husband to take me out, even if I had to wear the full khimar [a long, cape-like veil that covers the hair, neck and shoulders completely, but leaves the face clear]. I had not left home since IS took over the city. As I was preparing, he told me I would be forced to put on a niqab [veil for the face]. I was shocked at this and considered staying at home for a moment, but eventually I relented.
"I know many people who have been arrested by IS. Some of them are my relatives. Some were killed because they were in the security services. Others have been released. They tell unimaginable stories of atrocities committed by IS in its prisons.
Clips also show mosques and shrines being destroyed. Residents speak of brutal punishments for anyone contravening the jihadists' interpretation of Islamic law, which is imposed across the "caliphate" whose creation they proclaimed weeks after seizing Mosul.
Zaid: "IS knows the army will try to retake Mosul, so they're taking precautions. They've destroyed the city by digging tunnels, building barricades, planting mines and bombs, and filling the city with snipers, which will make it very difficult for the army.
Zaid: "Since IS took the city, it has been applying the 'Laws of the Caliphate', as it calls them. The minimum punishment is flogging, which is applied for things like smoking a cigarette.
# 2015-06-09T11:15:02.459511
# http://edition.cnn.com/2015/06/08/middleeast/habbaniyah-ramadi-fightback-against-isis/index.html
The Iraqi military was there, as were Shia fighting groups -- particularly the well-resourced Iraqi Hezbollah brigades -- but there was no sign of the Sunni fighters who were said to be gathering in readiness for an assault on Ramadi.
A relic of the British Empire, Habbaniyah fell into the hands of Saddam Hussein when he came to power in 1979; what little remains of his regime's MIG fighter jets lie in the dust at the roadside.
Iraqi military officials insist they have the men and the tools they need to attack Ramadi, but complain bitterly at what they say is a lack of coalition air support.
"They are supposed to give us some support now from warplanes," he said, appealing for greater backing from the coalition. "We are in control of the ground, all we need is air support."
With machine guns rattling away just behind him, Major-General Khalil Abadi explained that the ISIS positions currently firing on his men appear low down the list of targets for Iraqi and coalition jets.
But while Iraq's state media has portrayed Habbaniyah as the base for a large counter-offensive, the area seen by CNN seemed comparatively empty, with no sense of a massive force being prepared to attack.
One Iraqi official said these Sunni men -- vital to ensure the offensive to retake the Sunni heartland of Anbar from being a predominantly Shia operation -- numbered 2,000 "on paper" but were more likely only 500 strong in reality.
But now, Habbaniyah is preparing for a key role in the fight against ISIS, as the staging ground for the Iraqi government's attempt to take Ramadi back from the terror group.
Taken over and built up by the U.S. as they tried to stabilize Anbar province, the sprawling base was handed over to the Iraqi army when American troops withdrew from the region.
The nature of the threat was clear in a brief visit to the front lines: ISIS are separated from the base by the flow of the River Euphrates, but further upstream they have used the Ramadi Dam to cut off much of its flow.
Maj-Gen. Abadi was at the base to inspect its readiness but also to offer words of support to the men stationed there, praising what he called their "steadfastness" in the face of ISIS.
In the years since, cared for by an Iraqi army who at times look as if they have been left to fend for themselves, it has become overgrown and neglected in places.
Habbaniyah, Iraq (CNN)Iraq's history is writ large among the ruins of Habbaniyah military base: wrecked aircraft, crumbling buildings and much-used military hardware all telling a part of the country's troubled tale.
# 2015-06-09T11:17:17.312266
# http://edition.cnn.com/2015/05/04/entertainment/feat-obit-grace-lee-whitney-star-trek/index.html
"Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry put her in the movies, just going into production, and she appeared in "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," as well as the third, fourth and sixth entries in the series. She later appeared on the TV series "Star Trek: Voyager." By that point, she'd been promoted to Commander Janice Rand.
Originally a singer and dancer from the Detroit area, Whitney worked on Broadway and had a number of small roles in movies and TV series, including "The Real McCoys," "Hawaiian Eye" and "77 Sunset Strip," before being cast as Rand for "Trek's" debut season in 1966. The character was essentially an assistant to William Shatner's Capt. James T. Kirk.
"I just about killed myself over that reject. And when I would go on interviews, I would smell of alcohol. I was very Lindsay Lohan-ish, very Charlie Sheen. I was lost. I was lost and I began to bottom out," she told startrek.com in 2011. "It took me about 10 years after getting written out to come to my senses when I bottomed out."
She eventually got help while on Los Angeles' Skid Row, getting into a 12-step program. It turned her life around. (Among her supporters: Leonard Nimoy, "Trek's" Spock, who had his own battles with alcohol.)
On the official "Star Trek" website, startrek.com, Whitney was described as "one of 'Star Trek's' greatest cautionary tales and also one of the franchise's most satisfying renaissance stories." She was written out of the show in its first season and struggled with alcohol and drug problems before finding recovery, reprising the Rand role in the "Star Trek" films and devoting her life to helping others.
But by then her focus was on helping others with substance abuse problems. She devoted more than three decades to that work, going public with her own addiction at a "Trek" convention.
"Right now I take my grandchildren to school and cart them around, and I'm of maximum service to them," she said. "I also line dance one night a week and I go to the gym three days a week. So, my life is happy, joyous, free, sober and saved, and a lot of fun, too. I have a lot of fun."
"She continued her fellowship work in Fresno and Madera County, completely dedicating her life to helping herself and others find daily sobriety and a higher power out of addiction," her son, Jonathan Dweck, told the newspaper.
But she struggled, telling a British tabloid she'd gotten hooked on diet pills trying to stay thin. She also had problems with alcohol, though she told startrek.com that her drinking was not that serious while doing the show.
"When I told the fans I was an alcoholic, they all applauded. When I told them I had given myself to a higher power, they cheered again," Whitney told The (Fresno) Bee in 2013. "I'm in a great place because I've gone full circle."
(CNN)Grace Lee Whitney, who played Yeoman Janice Rand in the original "Star Trek" series and a handful of movies based on the series, died Friday at her home in Coarsegold, California. She was 85.
