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Tracey Gold

Tracey Gold (born May 16, 1969) is an American actress and former child star known for playing Carol Seaver on the 1980s sitcom Growing Pains.

Acting career
Tracey Gold became an actress at the age of four, first appearing in a Pepsi print ad. She appeared in two canceled series, Shirley with Shirley Jones in 1979, and Goodnight Beantown, starring Bill Bixby in 1983. Gold was originally cast as the youngest daughter in the original pilot series of the sitcom Gimme A Break! starring Nell Carter, but was replaced by actress Lara Jill Miller when the show went to series. She played one of Albert Finney and Diane Keaton's four daughters in the feature film Shoot the Moon (1982). Gold also guest starred on her sister Missy Gold's series Benson in 1985, playing the cousin of Missy's character, Katie Gatling.

In 1985, Gold auditioned for the role of Carol Seaver on Growing Pains, but was not initially cast. The actress chosen for the pilot was Elizabeth Ward, who had starred alongside Gold in The Hand-Me-Down Kid, a 1983 ABC Afterschool Special. However, test audiences did not favor Ward in the role of Carol, and she was replaced by Gold. Growing Pains ran from 1985 until 1992. During this time, Gold became a famous teen star and battled anorexia. In 1988, Gold also starred as Angela Strull in the teen film Dance 'til Dawn.

On August 9, 1988, Gold and her two sisters were the only celebrities at the funeral of murdered child-actor Judith Barsi. Gold read A Child Of Mine (from the poet Edgar Albert Guest) as a eulogy.

After the end of the series, Gold continued to work as an actress. Over the next decade, she starred in several television movies. In 2003, Gold appeared in an episode of the TV show The Dead Zone as the character Penny Barton. Gold was a contestant on the program Celebrity Mole: Yucatán in 2004, and starred in the movie Safe Harbor in 2006. She hosted the TV Guide Channel mini-show Trapped in TV Guide. In addition, she hosted the TLC series The Secret Life of a Soccer Mom, which debuted on March 3, 2008. Gold appeared as the spokesperson in "Baby Sleeps Safe", a national television infomercial for Baby Guardian. On January 2, 2012, she appeared on the ABC network's reality series, Celebrity Wife Swap, trading places with singer Carnie Wilson for a week. On July 24, 2013, Gold returned to sitcoms with an appearance on the Melissa & Joey episode, "Something Happened," as one half of a lesbian couple with a home-schooled daughter. Gold starred in the first episode of Heartbreakers called "Shot Through The Heart" on ID on August 13, 2014.

She competed on and won the twenty fourth season of Worst Cooks in America, the show's seventh celebrity edition titled That's So 90s, airing in April and May 2022.

Battle with anorexia
Gold said around the age of seven, she thought about dieting, having learned the word and the concept on the many television production sets she worked on as a child actress. She became preoccupied with the television movie The Best Little Girl in the World, starring actress Jennifer Jason Leigh, about an anorexic teenager. In her autobiography, Gold says that in an attempt to control her development into a woman, she began restricting what she ate. When she was 11, she was diagnosed with the early stages of anorexia nervosa by her family pediatrician after a weight loss that accompanied a growth spurt. After some counseling, she eventually returned to a more normal weight for most of her teenage years. In 1988 at age 19, Gold gained some weight over the Growing Pains series hiatus. That season, the sitcom's scripts called for her to be the brunt of jokes about her being overweight from her television brothers for many episodes in a row.

Beginning in October 1988, Gold dieted from 133 pounds to about 110 pounds on a medically supervised 500 Cal diet, but still occasionally the scripts continued to include weight-based jokes at her expense. In her autobiography, she says that between 1989 and 1991, she became increasingly obsessed with food and her weight and continued to slowly and steadily lose weight.

In 1990, Gold began group therapy in an eating disorder program, but only learned more ways to lose weight. That season, her problem with weight loss was touched upon slightly on her television series, when Gold is seen looking at her body in a carnival mirror, and describes to another character the distorted image in her head.

In 1991, she started starving herself more than ever and vomiting, and lost a great amount of weight, to the point that she was admitted to a hospital in early 1992. Her lowest weight is estimated to have been near 80 pounds. She was suspended from the show for her skeletal appearance. Photos of Gold's emaciated body were plastered all over tabloid magazines, and she was one of the first celebrities ever to be formally outed for anorexia. She last appeared in the 1991 episode "Menage a Luke" after missing the two prior episodes where her problem is very obvious in some scenes, and did not return until the last two episodes of the series in the late spring of 1992, although she was not nearly recovered at this point.

After several years' struggle, Gold eventually recovered, and starred in the television movie For the Love of Nancy (1994) with Jill Clayburgh. The film explored a young woman's battle with anorexia and its effects on her family. Although she was warned of the possibility that she had done damage to her reproductive organs by the years of anorexia, Gold was able to give birth to four children.

As she entered her thirties, Gold maintained a normal weight for her body structure, and often holds speaking engagements warning young women about the dangers of eating disorders, while continuing work as an actress.

Personal life
Gold met her husband Roby Marshall through Growing Pains co-star Joanna Kerns. Marshall served as a consultant on the true crime miniseries Blind Faith, about the 1984 contract killing of Roby’s mother, Maria, arranged by Roby’s father, Robert. Kerns portrayed Maria in the miniseries.

Gold and Marshall married on October 8, 1994, and have four sons, Sage Gold, Bailey Vincent, Aiden Michael, and Dylan Christopher.

In 2003, Gold wrote the book Room to Grow: An Appetite for Life with Julie McCarron, about Gold's struggle with and eventual recovery from anorexia.

In 2005, Gold pleaded guilty to a September 3rd, 2004 incident of felony drunken driving. The SUV she was driving had veered off the highway and rolled down an embankment, causing injuries to her husband and two sons. As a result, she was placed on three years' probation and ordered to complete 30 days of work release and 240 hours of community service.

title: Tracey Gold


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"Superstar" Billy Graham

Eldridge Wayne Coleman Jr. (June 7, 1943 – May 17, 2023), better known by his ring name "Superstar" Billy Graham, was an American professional wrestler. He gained recognition for his tenure as the WWF Heavyweight Champion from 1977 to 1978. He was a three-time world champion in major professional wrestling promotions. As an award-winning bodybuilder, he was a training partner and close friend of Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was most remembered for revolutionizing the interview, which resembled the interviewing style of boxer Muhammad Ali, and physique aspects of the professional wrestling industry, and for his charismatic performance style.

Early life
Coleman was born into a working-class family in Phoenix, Arizona, on June 7, 1943. His father Eldridge was from Mississippi and drove phone poles into the ground for a power company but developed multiple sclerosis and was reassigned to light office work. His mother Juanita, who claimed Cherokee ancestry, was from Arkansas. Coleman was attracted to weight lifting in the fifth grade. As a teenager, he was an avid reader of bodybuilding magazines, his idols being Steve Reeves and John Grimek. As a teenager, he became a devout Christian and traveled to religious revivals where he incorporated feats of strength into his sermons. Wayne was often beaten by his father due to his jealousy of Wayne's physique, but one day, he was able to yank the leather strap from his father's fingers; his mother also hit him with a brick on his head “because he was too big to hit with anything else.”

Coleman attended North High School, where he was a track and field star and a shot put champion. He also dabbled in amateur and professional boxing, participating in the 1959 Golden Gloves.

Coleman played for the Waterbury Orbits of the Atlantic Coast Football League in 1966. He was a member of the Oakland Raiders of the American Football League in 1967 but did not play in a game. In 1968, Coleman tried out for the Canadian Football League's Calgary Stampeders, but he was traded to the Montreal Alouettes and only played in five games while there. He played for the Las Vegas Cowboys of the Continental Football League in 1969. He also worked as a debt collector. In between football engagements, he worked as a bouncer at a bar in Phoenix.

Bodybuilding career
In 1961, Coleman was the winner of the West Coast division of the Mr. Teenage America bodybuilding contest (Frank Zane won the East Coast division), and his photo appeared soon after in Bob Hoffman's Strength and Fitness magazine. Coleman began to train intensively in 1968 at Gold's Gym in Santa Monica, where he worked out with Dave Draper, Franco Columbu and Arnold Schwarzenegger. At this time he was able to bench press 605 lbs (the world record, held by his friend Pat Casey, was 616 lbs). One of Coleman's photo shoots with Schwarzenegger was featured that year in Joe Weider's Muscle Fitness magazine.

When Coleman decided to become a professional wrestler two years later, he had the inspiration of marrying wrestling to bodybuilding. As a wrestler, he weight-trained continually, and in 1975 prepared for the World Bodybuilding Guild's Pro Mr. America contest in New York City, where his 22-inch biceps won first place in the Best Developed Arms division. At the peak of his wrestling career in 1977, Coleman weighed 275 lbs. From 1978, he gained more weight and in 1980, at 325 lbs, he took part in the World's Strongest Man competition in Great Gorge, New Jersey. He finished seventh in this contest in spite of injuring himself in one of the events. On December 6 of the same year, Coleman hosted the U.S. Invitational Powerlifting Championship in Phoenix, Arizona.

Early years (1969–1972)
In 1969, Coleman was encouraged by football player and occasional professional wrestler Bob Lueck to train with Stu Hart for the latter's Stampede Wrestling promotion. He trained under Hart in Calgary before debuting on January 16, 1970, in a match with Dan Kroffat. After wrestling briefly under his real name, Coleman traveled back to the United States in May, wrestling for a few months with Dr. Jerry Graham, Brick Darrow, Rick Cahill and Ron Pritchard in Arizona before he and Jerry joined the National Wrestling Alliance's Los Angeles promotion (run by Mike LeBell) as a tag team the following August. He changed his ring name to Billy Graham, as a tribute to the famous evangelist of the same name. Jerry also told him to dye his hair blonde with a bottle of Clairol. While wrestling in Championship Wrestling from Florida, the name served both as his ring name and to make him the (kayfabe) youngest brother of Jerry and the other Graham Brothers (Eddie and Luke).

In late December, Graham went north to join Roy Shire's NWA San Francisco promotion, working with Pat Patterson (his tag-team partner), Ray Stevens, Cyclone Negro, and Peter Maivia. Graham's nearly two-year run in central California included a stint wrestling in Hawaii in February and March 1972. It was during his Californian period that Graham developed a new aspect of his character; before a match he would stage an arm wrestling contest, encouraging public challenges to his title of "Arm Wrestling Champion of the World".

American Wrestling Association (1972–1975)
During his time with the AWA, Graham feuded with Gagne, The Crusher, The Bruiser, Wahoo McDaniel, Billy Robinson, Ken Patera and Ivan Koloff, the latter becoming his tag-team partner. By this time, Graham was integrating into his performances not only arm wrestling contests but also weightlifting challenges (mainly involving ex-Olympian Ken Patera) and posing routines. One of his most memorable and violent feuds was against McDaniel, with whom he wrestled numerous bouts between 1973 and 1974.

In September and October 1974, Graham took leave from the AWA to join the International Wrestling Enterprise's "Super Wide Series" tour of Japan, where he fought such local stars as Mighty Inoue, Animal Hamaguchi and Rusher Kimura. Following his return from Japan, Graham formed a tag team with Dusty Rhodes. He left the AWA and returned to the NWA in May 1975, signing up with Red Bastien's Dallas-based promotion for five months and taking the local "Brass Knucks" title from Mad Dog Vachon on August 8. For most of October, Graham worked for the Mid Atlantic promotion in North Carolina, standing in for Ric Flair, who had just been injured in a plane crash.

World Wide Wrestling Federation and return to NWA (1975–1976)
Graham made his in–ring debut in the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) on October 25, 1975, in a tag team match at the Boston Garden, in which he and Spiros Arion defeated WWWF Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino and Dominic De Nucci. During this time, The Grand Wizard became Graham's manager.

A brief contract with the NWA in Houston, Texas, followed from June to August 1976, after which Graham went on his second tour of Japan, this time accompanied by Ivan Koloff. He feuded with Antonio Inoki during this Japanese run. After returning to America, Graham and Koloff made an unsuccessful attempt to launch their own wrestling promotion in Southern California. In November, on the invitation of Dusty Rhodes, Graham joined the NWA promotion in Florida, beating Rhodes for the Florida heavyweight title on November 22 at the West Palm Beach Auditorium. His work in this period included occasional visits to St Louis, Missouri, where he took on NWA World Heavyweight Champion Harley Race.

Return to WWWF (1977–1978)
Graham defeated Bruno Sammartino for the WWWF Heavyweight Championship on April 30, 1977, in Baltimore, Maryland, after putting his feet on the ropes. During his reign, he wrestled across America and Japan, facing challengers such as former champion Bruno Sammartino, Jack Brisco, Dusty Rhodes, Pedro Morales, Don Muraco, Mil Mascaras, Strong Kobayashi, Carlos Rocha and Riki Choshu. On January 25, 1978, in Miami, Florida, at the Orange Bowl football stadium, Graham wrestled against then-NWA World Heavyweight Champion Harley Race in a WWWF Heavyweight Championship vs. NWA World Heavyweight Championship unification match which ended in a one-hour time-limit draw.

Graham eventually lost the title to Bob Backlund on February 20, 1978. Another feud Graham had as champion was with Dusty Rhodes, which culminated in a Texas Bullrope match. His confrontations with Rhodes continued after Graham had been forced to drop the belt to Backlund. Rhodes himself, a long-time friend of Graham's, recalled these matches with Graham in 1978 as among the most exciting and memorable of his career.

Return to NWA and hiatus (1978–1982)
Disillusioned by the loss of his belt, Graham left the WWWF in December 1978 and accepted an offer to join Paul Boesch's promotion in Houston, Texas, lending himself out for other NWA events in California and Florida as well. In April 1979, he embarked on his third IWA tour of Japan. On October 8, Graham became the Continental Wrestling Association (CWA) World Champion, defeating Pat McGuinness. On November 8, Graham lost the belt to Jerry Lawler in Lexington, Kentucky.

Graham wrestled only three matches (one in Windsor, Ontario, Canada and two in Los Angeles) in 1981, and was reported to have died on November 8. However, that report was false and started by Dusty Rhodes as a joke. In 1982, he spent some time competing in Japan and the United States, adding some martial arts techniques to his repertoire.

Second return to WWF (1982–1983)
Graham returned to the now-renamed World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in August 1982. He debuted in the promotion with an entirely new look: leaner, with a bald head and mustache, and sporting black karate pants. Graham later stated that he wanted to retire the "Superstar" character out of frustration with Vince McMahon Sr. for not letting him become a fan favorite. After his return, he attacked Backlund, destroying his championship belt. He challenged Backlund for the WWF Championship, but was unable to win the title and left the promotion in April 1983.

Return to AWA and third return to NWA (1983–1986)
Graham signed up with the AWA again in October 1983, and by the following year, he had regained his earlier body weight. In April 1984, he began his NWA run with Championship Wrestling from Florida, first as a member of Kevin Sullivan's Army of Darkness and later as the group's opponent after he was tired of Sullivan's abuse of his valet, The Lock, and stopped Sullivan from beating her at ringside. In November, Graham joined Jim Crockett Promotions (Mid-Atlantic Wrestling) in North Carolina, working for Paul Jones in his feud against Jimmy Valiant. It was during this stint, in the summer of 1985, that Graham bulked up further, and returned to his tie-dyed look, growing a full goatee and dyeing the mustache blond.

Third return to the WWF (1986–1989)
Graham returned to the WWF one more time in 1986,. After a few appearances, it was diagnosed in August that he required a hip replacement. The footage of Graham's hip replacement surgery was shown on WWF TV on September 27 as a means of promoting his comeback. He returned in mid-1987, but the strain on his hip and ankles proved to be too much. In Syracuse on October 27, the One Man Gang supposedly retired him from active competition permanently with a running splash on the concrete floor after Graham's win over Butch Reed. In this incident, aired on the November 14, 1987, episode of Superstars, Don Muraco came to Graham's aid, and Graham subsequently became Muraco's manager. Graham's last wrestling match, also against Butch Reed and at 44 years of age, actually took place on November 7, in St Louis, Missouri. Over the next year, in between bouts of surgery, Graham worked for the WWF as a commentator.

Fourth return to WWE (2004–2009)
On March 14, 2004, Graham was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2004, the night before WrestleMania XX, by then-World Heavyweight Champion Triple H, whom Graham had helped inspire to become a professional wrestler. Graham later sold his WWE Hall of Fame ring to purchase anti-rejection medications to help treat his liver transplant.

Several months later, Graham joined WWE on a swing of nine televised events where he was interviewed by Jonathan Coachman (on December 28) before performing a skit which ended with Coachman getting knocked out. On February 25, 2005, Graham appeared at another live event and was again interviewed by Coachman before knocking him out. Three days later, Graham appeared on Raw, where he encouraged Randy Orton to do something to make himself notable. On October 3 at WWE Homecoming, Graham participated in a Legends Ceremony with 24 other WWE legends. On the January 23, 2006, episode of Raw, he promoted his book and DVD. Graham parted ways with WWE in 2009.

Fifth return to WWE (2015–2023)
In November 2015, Graham announced that he had signed a legends contract (a long-term deal to make infrequent, non-wrestling appearances) in a Facebook post. He signed a renewed five-year contract in 2021.

Legacy
Speaking of his legacy, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter wrote: "If it wasn't for Billy Graham, this industry would be so much different than it is." Roberta Morgan's 1979 kayfabe book Main Event stated, "Although he is a rule bender, [Graham] has managed to stay very popular with the fans, probably because of his skill, strength, and colorful personality". As a headliner in Madison Square Garden, the WWF's primary arena throughout his tenure, Graham sold out 19 shows.

Many wrestlers have based their looks and styles on Billy Graham. Some examples are Ric Flair, Austin Idol, Steve Austin, Scott Steiner, Triple H, Hulk Hogan and Jesse "The Body" Ventura. Graham was also famous for his characteristic use of the word "brother" in his promos, referring to either commentators or fellow wrestlers. This stems from his background attending evangelical revival meetings, where everybody referred to each other as "brother" or "sister" (in Christ). Graham's use of the word caught on, and since then countless wrestlers have also used "brother" in their own respective promos, most notably Hulk Hogan.

Graham often lectured young athletes on the dangers of steroids. His autobiography, Tangled Ropes, was released by WWE on January 10, 2006. WWE also released a DVD about Graham's career, titled 20 Years Too Soon: The "Superstar" Billy Graham Story. Graham had a new DVD released in 2013 through Seriocity Productions titled "Superstar" Billy Graham: Full Disclosure.

Disputes with the McMahons
In the early 1990s, U.S. federal agents were investigating Dr. George Zahorian, a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, physician who had been dispensing anabolic steroids and other drugs to wrestlers at WWF events. In 1991, Dr. Zahorian was convicted under the U.S. federal Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 which prohibited the prescription of steroids for non-therapeutic purposes. This led to WWF owner Vince McMahon Jr., who admitted to being a steroid user himself, being put on trial on charges of steroid distribution in 1994. The trial concluded with McMahon's acquittal. During this time, Graham personally sued Zahorian and the WWF, claiming that they had forced him to take steroids to maintain his position in the company. His lawsuit was unsuccessful, partly because he had been using steroids for a decade preceding his WWF debut. Recalling the lawsuit on a 2003 episode of WWE Confidential, he attributed the litigation to his bitterness and claimed that he was an innovator of steroid use in the organization.

Graham went on a public awareness campaign regarding the dangers of steroids during this time, including an appearance with McMahon on The Phil Donahue Show in 1992. During the Donahue taping, Graham claimed to have witnessed WWF officials sexually abuse children. McMahon claimed the abuse had never taken place, and Graham later admitted that he made up the allegations, hoping to extort "hush money" out of the WWF. In his autobiography, Graham describes making the allegations as being "my most shameful moment, not only in the wrestling profession, but in my life". Graham wrote an apology to McMahon but received no response until his 2002 liver transplant.

Five years after being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, Graham was released from his consultancy position in WWE. He sold his Hall of Fame ring on eBay to help pay for medical bills and requested that he be entirely removed from the Hall of Fame after Abdullah the Butcher was inducted, complaining that Abdullah had never wrestled in the promotion.

Graham spoke out against Linda McMahon during her 2010 Senate campaign, claiming that she was distancing herself from the racy programming that she profited from while acting as CEO for WWE. Upon learning that his liver condition had worsened, Graham reached out to apologize to the McMahons, even offering to be a spokesman for Linda McMahon's campaign.

In July 2015, Graham sent a letter to Vince McMahon requesting to take the position of Dusty Rhodes, who had recently died, at NXT. Graham received criticism from fans due to his timing and opportunism. He defended himself, calling his critics "evil subhumans", and compared a possible reconciliation with McMahon to that of long-time WWE critic Bruno Sammartino, who reconciled with McMahon and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2013.

Family
As stated in his autobiography Tangled Ropes, Graham and his wife Valerie Belkas, whom he married in 1978, were never able to have children. Graham has two children from a previous marriage to Madelyn Miluso; he was also married to Shirley Potts. His daughter Capella was born on June 8, 1972. She was named after a star he read about in the Atlas of the Universe. His son Joey was born on March 18, 1975. Joey was born with double pneumonia and an enlarged heart, which was later surgically corrected. Joey's godfather was wrestler Dusty Rhodes.

Health issues
After contracting hepatitis C, Graham received a liver transplant in 2002 from a 26-year-old female donor, who had died in a car crash. He had cirrhosis at the time of his transplant. Graham was again hospitalized on May 24, 2006, due to a bowel obstruction from an earlier surgery.

In July 2010, Graham was hospitalized due to liver problems. Afterward, he announced that he probably only had one year left to live without another liver transplant. He reserved a burial spot at the Green Acres cemetery in Scottsdale, Arizona, next to Eddie Guerrero. On March 31, 2011, The Phoenix New Times reported that Graham's doctor, Hector Rodriguez-Luna, acknowledged that Graham's advanced fibrosis may have been early cirrhosis and that he could live for two more years if he took Interferon—a drug to help slow his hepatitis C—and stayed in shape. By 2012, Graham was diagnosed with third-stage liver disease and cirrhosis.

On January 17, 2013, Graham was hospitalized with double pneumonia and possible heart failure. He was re-hospitalized for a liver complication in October 2014.

On August 2, 2016, Graham was hospitalized while undergoing a medical procedure due to internal bleeding; he underwent surgery the next day to identify the cause of the issues.

In June 2022, it was announced that he needed to have his toes amputated.

Death
Graham was hospitalized in January 2023 as a result of an ear and skull infection that had left him deaf. By April, his condition had worsened; he had lost 80 pounds and was being treated for kidney, heart and lung problems. He died of sepsis and multiple organ failure on May 17, 2023, three weeks short of his 80th birthday, after having been placed on life support earlier that week.

Championships and accomplishments

 * 50th State Big Time Wrestling
 * NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
 * Championship Wrestling from Florida
 * NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
 * NWA Florida Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Ox Baker
 * NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (Florida version) (1 time)
 * Continental Wrestling Association
 * CWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
 * International Pro Wrestling
 * IWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
 * NWA Big Time Wrestling
 * NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Texas version) (4 times)
 * NWA San Francisco
 * NWA World Tag Team Championship (San Francisco version) (1 time) – with Pat Patterson
 * Pro Wrestling Illustrated
 * Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (1973)
 * Match of the Year (1977) vs. Bruno Sammartino on April 30
 * Match of the Year (1978) vs. Bob Backlund on February 20
 * Ranked No. 277 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003
 * Pro Wrestling This Week
 * Wrestler of the Week (June 1–6, 1987)
 * Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
 * Class of 2009
 * World (Wide) Wrestling Federation / Entertainment
 * WWWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
 * WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2004)
 * Slammy Award (1 time)
 * Hulk Hogan Real American Award (1987)
 * Wrestling Observer Newsletter
 * Most Washed Up Wrestler (1982)
 * Best Pro Wrestling Book (2006) with Keith Greenberg
 * Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)

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title: "Superstar" Billy Graham


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Yokozuna (wrestler)

Agatupu Rodney Anoai (October 2, 1966 – October 23, 2000) was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his time with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), where he wrestled under the ring name Yokozuna. He was also known for his appearances with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as Great Kokina.

Anoa'i's character was portrayed as a champion sumo wrestler, with his ring name being a reference to the highest rank in professional sumo wrestling in Japan. While Anoaʻi wrestled as a representative of Japan, he was a Samoan American and was billed as hailing from Polynesia. However, he was managed by the Japanese character Mr. Fuji (in reality a Japanese American) who would follow Anoai to the ring with a wooden bucket of salt while waving a Japanese flag.

In the WWF, Anoai was a two-time WWF World Heavyweight Champion and two-time WWF Tag Team Champion (with Owen Hart), as well as the winner of the 1993 Royal Rumble. He was the first wrestler of Samoan descent to hold the WWF World Heavyweight Championship, as well as the first Royal Rumble winner who (as a result of a direct stipulation) received a WWF world championship title shot at WrestleMania. He defeated WWE Hall of Famers Bret Hart and Hulk Hogan in consecutive pay-per-view victories in the main event of WrestleMania IX, and the 1993 King of the Ring, to win his two WWF Championships, also headlining WrestleMania X against Hart. He was the third-fastest newcomer (after Brock Lesnar and Sheamus) to win the WWF Championship after his debut. He was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2012.

Early career (1985–1988)
Anoaʻi grew up in a family of wrestlers, the Anoaʻi family; his uncles, the Wild Samoans (Afa Anoaʻi and Sika Anoaʻi) trained him from an early age. He debuted in 1985. He spent the early years of his career performing for promotions such as International World Class Championship Wrestling, Texas All-Star Wrestling, the Universal Wrestling Federation, the Continental Wrestling Association, and the Continental Wrestling Federation under a variety of ring names, including "Giant Kokina", "Great Kokina", "Kokina", and "Kokina the Samoan". In December 1988, he wrestled for the Catch Wrestling Association (CWA) in Germany, unsuccessfully challenging Otto Wanz for the CWA World Heavyweight Championship.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (1988–1992)
In August 1988, Anoaʻi began making appearances in Japan with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as "Great Kokina". In August and September 1988, he took part in the "Sengoku Series" tour, where he faced opponents such as Super Strong Machine and Tatsutoshi Goto, and teamed with fellow gaijin including Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow and Scott Hall.

Anoaʻi made his next appearances with NJPW in June and July 1989 as part of its "Summer Fight Series". During this tour, he repeatedly teamed with Big Van Vader and Mike Kirchner, with his opponents including Kengo Kimura, Masa Saito, and Riki Choshu. In October and November that year, Anoaʻi made a third tour of Japan as part of NJPW's "Toukon Series"; during this stint, he again repeatedly teamed with Big Van Vader, while his opponents included Choshu, Kimura, Masahiro Chono, and Osamu Kido.

Anoaʻi wrestled a fourth stint with NJPW in January and February 1990 as part of its "New Spring Gold Series". During this tour he once again teamed with Big Van Vader, as well as teaming with his future World Wrestling Federation tag team partner Owen Hart. On the final day of his tour, he and Vader unsuccessfully challenged Masa Saito and Shinya Hashimoto for the IWGP Tag Team Championship. He returned to NJPW for one week in July 1990 during the "Wrestling Scramble", teaming with Wild Samoan as the Samoan SWAT Team and unsuccessfully challenging Keiji Muto and Masahiro Chono for the IWGP Tag Team Championship. He had a short sixth stint with NJPW in September 1990 during the "Explosion Tour", once again teaming with Wild Samoan.

Anoaʻi returned to NJPW for a seventh stint in April 1991 during that year's "Explosion Tour". This stint saw the Samoan SWAT Team primarily wrestle six-man tag team matches, teaming with Scott Norton or Pegasus Kid. He made a sixth stint with NJPW in July 1991 as part of the "Summer Crush" tour and a seventh stint in September 1991 as part of the "Battle Autumn" tour, again teaming with Wild Samoan. At the end of the Battle Autumn tour, Anoaʻi took part in the "Memorial Battle in Yokohama" event at the Yokohama Arena, teaming with Wild Samoan, Pegasus Kid, and Brad Armstrong to defeat Black Cat, Kengo Kimura, Osamu Kido, and Shiro Koshinaka. In October 1991, Anoaʻi and Great Kokina took part in the Super Grade Tag League; they defeated Kim Duk and Tiger Jeet Singh, but lost their other five matches, ultimately placing in joint last place with two points.

Anoaʻi made a ninth stint with NJPW in March 1992 as part of the "Big Fight Series", once again teaming with Wild Samoan as the Samoan SWAT Team; the main event of the final day of the series saw the Samoan SWAT Team and Big Van Vader lose to Keiji Muto, Masahiro Chono, and Riki Choshu in the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. In June and July 1992, the Samoan SWAT Team wrestled on the "Masters of Wrestling" tour. Anoaʻi made his final appearances with NJPW in September 1992 as part of its "Battle Autumn" tour. His last match took place at the "Battle Hold Arena" event at the Yokohama Arena, where the Samoan SWAT Team lost to Raging Staff (Super Strong Machine and Tatsutoshi Goto).

American Wrestling Association (1989–1990)
In 1989, Anoa'i received his first major exposure in the United States when he joined the American Wrestling Association (AWA) as "Kokina Maximus". Managed by Sheik Adnan El Kassey, he depicted a disheveled Samoan wild man, and was billed as the biggest Samoan wrestler ever. In late-1989, an angle was booked in which he repeatedly delivered a big splash to Greg Gagne, marking the end of Gagne's career. Anoaʻi made his final appearance with the AWA in April 1990, losing to Yukon John Nord in a lumberjack match at SuperClash IV.

Universal Wrestling Association (1990–1992)
In February 1990, Anoaʻi began wrestling for the Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) in Mexico as "Great Kokina". He initially wrestled primarily in two-out-of-three falls matches. In March 1991, he unsuccessfully challenged El Canek for the UWA World Heavyweight Championship. In April 1991, Anoaʻi and his cousins Fatu and Samoan Savage (with the trio collectively billed as the "Hawaiian Beasts") defeated Los Villanos for the UWA World Trios Championship. Los Villanos regained the titles in a rematch the following month. For the remainder of his tenure in the UWA, Anoaʻi continued to wrestle primarily in two-out-of-three falls matches (including teaming with Black Scorpio and Buffalo Allen in a loss to André the Giant, El Canek, and Villano III in May 1992), as well as again unsuccessfully challenging El Canek for the UWA World Heavyweight Championship on several other occasions. He made his final appearances with the promotion in August 1992.

WWF Champion (1992–1994)
In 1992, Anoai was contacted by Vince McMahon of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and offered a roster spot along with The Samoans (Fatu and Samoan Savage). On the August 17 episode of Prime Time Wrestling, the Samoans (soon to be the Headshrinkers) made their debut. Commentator Gorilla Monsoon made mention of another, larger Samoan that they would soon be seeing in the WWF. Anoaʻi made his initial debut as Kokina in an untelevised match on September 1, at a WWF Superstars taping in Hershey, Pennsylvania, defeating Ron Neal. This would be the only time that Anoaʻi wrestled under his former gimmick, as shortly after, he was offered a new gimmick: Yokozuna.

Managed by Mr. Fuji, Yokozuna debuted on the October 31, 1992 edition of Superstars with his then new gimmick of a stereotypical sumo wrestler, who competed under the Japanese flag; though the WWF tactfully acknowledged his Samoan roots. He wore a mawashi as part of his ring attire, but wore long tights underneath the loincloth, something that Vince McMahon and Yokozuna's cousin Rikishi later felt wasn't needed and that he should've worn the traditional mawashi without the tights to expose his buttocks (which Rikishi himself would later do). Anoaʻi also revamped his appearance as Yokozuna by gaining additional weight, becoming clean shaven and transforming his unruly hair into a chonmage. He made his pay-per-view debut on November 25 at Survivor Series, easily defeating the much smaller Virgil with his huge weight advantage. Yokozuna's career soon took off and he was billed as a potential favorite to win the Royal Rumble match on January 24, 1993, doing so by last eliminating Randy Savage. Having cemented his movement towards main-event status, Yokozuna was a competitor in the first-ever match in Monday Night Raw history, defeating the much smaller Koko B. Ware with his signature finisher, the Banzai Drop. Soon after, Yokozuna was challenged by American patriot "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, who aimed to be the first man to knock Yokozuna off his feet (this was taped before Randy Savage knocked down Yokozuna at the Royal Rumble). On the February 6 airing of Superstars, Duggan succeeded in knocking Yokozuna down, only for Yokozuna to sneak attack Duggan with a bucket of salt Mr. Fuji had brought to the ring, and crush him with four Banzai Drops, the fourth being with the American flag draped over Duggan. Afterwards, Duggan was suffering from (kayfabe) internal bleeding. On the May 10, 1993, edition of Monday Night Raw, Yokozuna served as one of the lumberjacks in a match between Duggan and Shawn Michaels for the Intercontinental Championship. Duggan, upon seeing Yokozuna, immediately charged at him and knocked him off his feet again; late in the match, after Bam Bam Bigelow distracted Duggan, Michaels attacked the challenger from behind and threw him out of the ring to where Yokozuna was standing. Yokozuna knocked Duggan to the floor and nailed him with a leg drop, then rolled his unconscious body back into the ring as payback for the earlier attack.

At WrestleMania IX on April 4, Yokozuna wrestled against Bret Hart for the WWF Championship. Hart had the match won with Yokozuna about to submit to the Sharpshooter, when Mr. Fuji threw salt into the champion's face. Blinded, Hart was then pinned by Yokozuna, who won the WWF Championship. As he and Mr. Fuji celebrated, Hulk Hogan came to the ring to help Hart and was challenged by Mr. Fuji to take on the new champion. After Fuji accidentally threw salt in Yokozuna's eyes, Hogan came through with the win and captured his fifth WWF Championship. At the time, Yokozuna held the record for the second shortest time (after Ric Flair) to win the WWF Championship after his debut, with 173 days (currently, Yokozuna holds the fourth shortest time, after Flair, Sheamus, and Brock Lesnar). On June 13 at King of the Ring, Yokozuna, whose weight increased from 505 lb to 550 lb, challenged Hogan for the title. Hogan seemed to have the match won, but a photographer, planted at ringside among a legitimate Japanese wrestling press group, shot a blast of fire into Hogan's face. This allowed Yokozuna to take Hogan out with a leg drop and regain the WWF Championship, after which he proceeded to hit Hogan with the Banzai Drop in the corner. Hogan then left the WWF to pursue other interests, leaving Yokozuna and Fuji to claim that they had ended "Hulkamania". To celebrate, he held a "Bodyslam Competition" aboard the USS Intrepid (CV-11), a decommissioned aircraft carrier, on Independence Day. Many wrestlers and athletes failed to slam Yokozuna until Lex Luger flew in by helicopter, stepped forward, and slammed him on the deck. Commentator Bobby Heenan claimed Luger's move was a hiptoss, not a bodyslam, as Yokozuna was running at Luger, but the slam was ruled legitimate. This made Luger the next major challenger to Yokozuna's title.

On August 30 at SummerSlam, Yokozuna, now weighing 568 lb, and Luger fought for the WWF Championship. Luger took control late in the match, scoring on Yokozuna with a bodyslam and flying forearm. Luger had metal plates put into his arm following an injury from a motorcycle accident (it was stipulated that Luger had to wear a protective pad over it, but it was torn off in the course of the match). However, Yokozuna was knocked out of the ring unconscious and lost via count-out, though he retained the title because it could not change hands via count-out. The contract Luger had signed for the match, as orchestrated by Yokozuna's new spokesman and advisor James E. Cornette, stated that if he did not win the championship, he would not get another shot at the title. Yokozuna and Luger continued to feud until Survivor Series on November 24, where each chose a team of allies for an elimination match, which was billed as an All-Americans (Lex Luger, The Undertaker, and Steiner Brothers) vs. Foreign Fanatics (Yokozuna, Quebecer Jacques, Ludvig Borga, and Crush) contest. Yokozuna was eliminated via double count-out after brawling with the Undertaker outside of the ring; the All-Americans went on to win the match.

Yokozuna's next title challenger was The Undertaker, whom he was eventually forced to accept a casket match with. The match occurred on January 22, 1994, at Royal Rumble, which Yokozuna won by shoving the Undertaker in the casket with help from multiple heel wrestlers. After the match, a mysterious figure appeared on the titantron, looking like the Undertaker inside the casket. He opened his eyes and said the Undertaker would not rest in peace; he then disappeared in a smoke and light show, rising to the top of the titantron and seemingly levitating all the way to the arena ceiling until vanishing. This storyline was used to allow the Undertaker to rest for several months to recover from lingering real-life injuries.

In the Royal Rumble match, the last two competitors, Lex Luger and Bret Hart, fought and eliminated each other simultaneously. Since the winner of the Royal Rumble was to become the number one contender to Yokozuna's title, it was decided that both wrestlers would get a shot at the title at WrestleMania X. By virtue of winning a coin toss, Luger got to wrestle Yokozuna first at the event. The winner of that match would go on to face Bret Hart later in the evening with the title on the line. To obviate the risk of outside interference, both title matches were scheduled to have special guest referees, with Mr. Perfect as the referee for the Luger/Yokozuna bout. Luger had knocked out Yokozuna with a running forearm smash in the middle of the ring, as well as Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette, but when he went for the pin, Perfect occupied himself with the unconscious Fuji and Cornette who were still lying on the ring apron. An angry Luger was disqualified after pushing Mr. Perfect, making Yokozuna the first villainous champion to successfully defend the WWF Championship at WrestleMania. Later in the night, Yokozuna defended the championship again, this time against Bret Hart, who had lost earlier in the night to his brother Owen Hart. For this match, Roddy Piper was the special referee, attacking Cornette when he tried to break a pinfall. At the end of the match, Yokozuna seemed ready to hit his finishing maneuver, the Banzai Drop, but lost his balance and took a fall from the ropes. Hart pinned Yokozuna to win the title, ending Yokozuna's reign at 280 days.

After dropping the belt, Yokozuna's main event status began to fade away. He briefly tagged with Crush, another Mr. Fuji charge. On the May 16 episode of Raw, Yokozuna lost to Earthquake in the only (worked) sumo match until WrestleMania 21, between The Big Show and an actual yokozuna, Akebono. At King of the Ring on June 19, Yokozuna and Crush failed to win the WWF Tag Team Championship from The Headshrinkers (Samu and Fatu). Yokozuna then had to deal with the "rebirth" of the Undertaker, who immediately came after the foe who had taken him out of action. The two met in another casket match on November 23 at Survivor Series, this time with actor/karate expert Chuck Norris as the special enforcer to keep the other heel wrestlers away from ringside. Without their help (although Irwin R. Schyster successfully interfered on Yokozuna's behalf), Yokozuna lost the match and ended up locked inside the casket. Yokozuna continued to wrestle briefly before taking some time off to increase his already huge weight advantage.

Teaming with Owen Hart; departure (1995–1998)
In April 1995, Owen Hart began promising that he would have a great tag team partner to face off against The Smoking Gunns (Billy and Bart) at WrestleMania XI for the WWF Tag Team Championship. At the event on April 2, Yokozuna, now weighing in at 641 lb, was revealed as his partner, and the team defeated the Gunns to win the WWF Tag Team Championship. The two retained the titles against the Gunns in a rematch on May 14 at In Your House 1 and against the Allied Powers (Lex Luger and Davey Boy Smith) on July 23 at In Your House 2. At In Your House 3 on September 24, Yokozuna and Davey Boy Smith took on Shawn Michaels and Diesel (the back story being that Hart was with his wife as she gave birth to one of their children) with Diesel's WWF Championship, Shawn Michaels' Intercontinental Championship and Hart and Yokozuna's Tag Team Championship on the line. During the match, Hart came to the ring, only to be pinned by Diesel. The next day, due to protests from the team and the legal help of Clarence Mason, President Gorilla Monsoon reluctantly returned the belts to Yokozuna and Hart, since Hart was not an official part of the match. Their second reign was shorter, as the Smoking Gunns defeated them that night for the belts.

Yokozuna, by now weighing in at 660 lb, had little continued success in 1996. He competed in the Royal Rumble match on January 21, eliminating Bob Backlund, King Mabel, and Swat Team member #2 before being tossed out by eventual winner Shawn Michaels. Although Cornette tried to make peace between him and new acquisition Vader, many observers felt Yokozuna was being relegated. After several run-ins, Yokozuna left Cornette and began a short stint as a fan favorite. He spoke English to the fans, had Mr. Fuji wave an American flag during his matches, and challenged Vader to numerous matches. On March 31 at WrestleMania XII, Yokozuna, Ahmed Johnson and Jake Roberts lost to Vader, Owen Hart and British Bulldog. Vader jumped on Yokozuna's leg on the April 8 episode of Raw, (kayfabe) breaking it. The splash was shown on television as a leg break, but in reality, it was performed to allow Yokozuna to take some time off to lose weight. However, instead of a stretcher, a real forklift had to be brought to carry Yokozuna out, as it was the only way to move a man of his size.

In May, Yokozuna returned at In Your House 8: Beware of Dog to wrestle Vader. During the event, a severe thunderstorm in the area caused the pay-per-view broadcast feed to blackout. In one of the matches not broadcast, Yokozuna defeated Vader. The event was rescheduled two days later, in which the matches that were previously blacked-out took place again. Vader won their rematch. On August 17, he appeared at Free for All just before SummerSlam, where he lost to Stone Cold Steve Austin after he attempted a Banzai Drop on the rope, which broke under his weight, sending him crashing back down for Austin to win.

The next night on Raw, Yokozuna faced then WWF Champion Shawn Michaels for the title in a losing effort. Afterwards, he only made appearances on house shows. He made his final televised WWF appearance at the Survivor Series on November 17, still going after Vader, however he only briefly entered the match illegally and it ended with all remaining wrestlers being disqualified. His final match in the WWF was on November 20, 1996, at a house show in White Plains, New York in a battle royal won by his cousin Rocky Maivia.

For a second time, Yokozuna went to his home in Los Angeles to lose weight through exercise and dieting, being replaced by other wrestlers on a late November 1996 tour of the United Kingdom. Despite dropping a reported 100 lb, he still could not lose enough to satisfy the WWF officials, and was not medically cleared to wrestle in some states because of his physical condition. Yokozuna was ultimately unable to pass a physical examination required for professional wrestlers by the New York State Athletic Commission, and was released from the WWF in May 1998.

Independent circuit (1998–2000)
After his WWF career ended in 1998, he performed sporadically for various independent promotions, including Maryland Championship Wrestling. At the Heroes of Wrestling pay-per-view event on October 10, 1999, Yokozuna was scheduled to take on King Kong Bundy in one of the event's two featured matches. However, Jake Roberts, who was scheduled to face Jim Neidhart in the other main event match, came to the ring for his match intoxicated and in no condition to wrestle. The promoters made a last-minute change and Yokozuna teamed with Roberts against Bundy and Neidhart, and Yokozuna's team lost.

Personal life
Anoai was a member of the Anoaʻi wrestling family, with Roman Reigns, Rikishi, Samu, Rosey, Manu, Umaga, and The Rock among his cousins. The Usos and Solo Sikoa were his first cousins once-removed and Afa and Sika were his uncles. He had two children, Justin and Keilani. He also suffered from arachnophobia, and claimed to devour 240 eggs, 12 pieces of chicken and a bucket-sized portion of Japanese rice every day.

Death
On October 23, 2000, Anoai died in his sleep from pulmonary edema in his seventh-floor room at the Moat House Hotel on Paradise Street in Liverpool while on a wrestling tour of the UK for All Star Wrestling. He was 34 years old. His body was found by his crew's transport manager, and after paramedics came into his hotel room, it took six men to move his body. At the time, it was widely reported that he died of heart failure or a heart attack, but this was later found to be incorrect due to his lungs showing severe signs of fluid blockage.

Legacy
The Yokozuna Memorial Show was held in Allentown, Pennsylvania in November 2001, shortly after the first anniversary of Anoaʻi's death. It was presented by the independent promotion World Xtreme Wrestling, although matches included wrestlers from multiple promotions.

On March 31, 2012, Yokozuna was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by his cousins, The Usos and Rikishi.

Championships and accomplishments

 * Pro Wrestling Illustrated
 * Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (1993)
 * PWI ranked him #5 of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1993
 * PWI ranked him #145 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003
 * Universal Wrestling Association
 * UWA World Trios Championship (1 time) – with Fatu and Samoan Savage
 * World Wrestling Federation/WWE
 * WWF Championship (2 times)
 * WWF Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Owen Hart
 * Royal Rumble (1993)
 * WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2012)

title: Yokozuna (wrestler)


text:
Districts of Bhutan

The Kingdom of Bhutan is divided into 20 districts (Dzongkha: ). Bhutan is located between the Tibet Autonomous Region of China and India on the eastern slopes of the Himalayas in South Asia.

are the primary subdivisions of Bhutan. They possess a number of powers and rights under the Constitution of Bhutan, such as regulating commerce, running elections, and creating local governments. The Local Government Act of 2009 established local governments in each of the 20 overseen by the Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs. Each has its own elected government with non-legislative executive powers, called a  (district council). The is assisted by the  administration headed by a  (royal appointees who are the chief executive officer of each ). Each also has a  court presided over by a  (judge), who is appointed by the Chief Justice of Bhutan on the advice of Royal Judicial Service Council. The, and their residents, are represented in the Parliament of Bhutan, a bicameral legislature consisting of the National Council and the National Assembly. Each has one National Council representative. National Assembly representatives are distributed among the in proportion to their registered voter population as recommended by the Delimitation Commission, provided that "no  shall have less than two and more than seven National Assembly constituencies."

As of the 2017 census, Thimphu is the most populous, with 138,736 residents; Gasa is the least populous, with 3,952 residents. Thimphu is the most densely populated, with 67.1 /km2, whereas Gasa is the least densely populated, with 1.3 /km2. The largest by land area is Wangdue Phodrang, encompassing 4,308 km2, while the smallest is Tsirang, encompassing 639 km2.

History
Medieval Bhutan was organized into provinces or regions headquartered in (castles/fortresses) which served as administrative centres for areas around them. The of Paro, Dagana and Trongsa were headed by  (provincial lords/governors) while other  were headed by  (fortress lords). and gained power as the increasingly dysfunctional dual system of government eventually collapsed amid civil war. The victorious Penlop of Trongsa Ugyen Wangchuck gained sovereignty over the entire realm in 1907, marking the establishment of the modern Kingdom of Bhutan and the ascendancy of the House of Wangchuck.

At the direction of the fourth (Bhutan head of state), Jigme Singye Wangchuk, the process of decentralisation of local administration started in 1981  with the formation of a  (DYT, district development committee) in each of the newly created.

Four (zones) were established in 1988 and 1989: Zone I, including four western districts, seated at Chhukha; Zone II, including four west-central districts, seated at Damphu; Zone III, including four east-central districts, seated at Geylegphug; and Zone IV, including five eastern districts, seated at Yonphula; to "provide a more efficient distribution of personnel and administrative and technical skills." acted as the intermediary administrative divisions between the administration and the central government. Although Thimphu and Thimphu  (municipality) were within the boundaries of Zone I, they stayed outside the zonal system. By 1991, however, only Eastern (Zone IV) was fully functional. Zone I, Zone II and Zone III were "indefinitely" disabled in early 1991. Zone IV also ceased to function in mid-1992. slowly lost relevance and went defunct as they were not included in the Constitution of Bhutan and the Local Government Act of 2009, which repealed the previous local governments and administrative divisions.

Under the (District Development Council Act) of 2002, a  (administrator), assisted by a  (deputy district collector), carry out administrative activities, while the DYT coordinates all developmental activities within the. Each DYT includes representatives of the municipalities and the towns within the, who elect a chairperson from among themselves. The DYTs also had non-voting members, which included the, the ( (sub-district) head) (where a  exists) and the  officials from various sectors such as the chief engineer, and the planning, finance, education, agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and health officers.

The Constitution of 2008 laid basic provisions for an elected and  courts in each. The Local Government Act of 2009 further codified the election process of, the appointment process of , and the role of courts within the judicial system of Bhutan. It also repealed all previous acts and laws regarding local governments, including the of 2002.

Political structure
Under the Local Government Act of 2009, the is the non-legislative executive body of the, composed of the  ( head) and the  (elected representatives of the ) from each  (block of villages), and representatives from the  of that. They are empowered to enforce rules on health and public safety, regulate environmental pollution, advertise in regard to environmental aesthetics, regulate broadcast media in accordance with the Information, Communications, and Media Act, regulate gambling, and raise their own funds. They also oversee the. A, in turn, is responsible for maintaining law and order, and for enforcing the (rules for disciplined behavior).

title: Districts of Bhutan


text:
Talk:Omagh bombing

Terrorism cats
You have claimed I misrepresented the policy, can you please explain how. Apollo The Logician (talk) 16:11, 20 January 2017 (UTC) If you don't explain how I am misrepresenting the policy then I will just remove the catsApollo The Logician (talk)

So you refuse to engage on the talk page and claim the deletion was unexplained? Apollo The Logician (talk) 21:25, 21 January 2017 (UTC)

 * You'll forgive me for not noticing comments about category deletions in a talk page section headed "Source distortion regarding unborn twins" where I wasn't even pinged. It's late and I'm busy. I'll respond substantively tomorrow. Bastun Ėġáḍβáś₮ŭŃ! 21:43, 21 January 2017 (UTC)

 * Thanks for now separating this out into its own topic, . Pings are useful when you're asking someone a question. Edit summaries are useful too, and their use is encouraged.

 * On the substantive issue - the categories you had removed are absolutely valid, populated categories that have been in use for years. If they weren't valid, they would have been challenged, amended or removed via a category for discussion entry in the past, especially given that the whole area of the Troubles used to be a lot more contentious on WP than it is now. "Words to watch" is a subsection of the Manual of Style that includes WP:TERRORIST.  This is a guideline that applies to the bodies of articles, not to categories, and explicitly does not ban use of the word "terrorist".  Hopefully  this clarifies things to your satisfaction. Bastun Ėġáḍβáś₮ŭŃ! 14:29, 22 January 2017 (UTC)

 * Your whole argument is "this hasnt been problem with people before". I am talking about Troubles related articles. There is a clear policy on this, don't use the word terrorist.Apollo The Logician (talk) 14:34, 22 January 2017 (UTC)

 * Would you care to link to this policy? Incidentally - in other places, you have used the argument of "there's a clear consensus" to include or exclude material... how is this different? Bastun Ėġáḍβáś₮ŭŃ! 15:36, 22 January 2017 (UTC)

 * Terrorism cats are commonly included when there are reliable sources describing the incidents as terrorism. There are plenty of sources describing this bombing, in a busy shopping street, as a terrorist attack. Jim Michael (talk) 08:42, 9 June 2019 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 6 external links on Omagh bombing. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20131019094823/http://www.rwuk.org/new/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Omagh-Report-15-8-13.pdf to http://www.rwuk.org/new/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Omagh-Report-15-8-13.pdf
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20131019094823/http://www.rwuk.org/new/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Omagh-Report-15-8-13.pdf to http://www.rwuk.org/new/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Omagh-Report-15-8-13.pdf
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20131019094823/http://www.rwuk.org/new/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Omagh-Report-15-8-13.pdf to http://www.rwuk.org/new/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Omagh-Report-15-8-13.pdf
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20131019094823/http://www.rwuk.org/new/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Omagh-Report-15-8-13.pdf to http://www.rwuk.org/new/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Omagh-Report-15-8-13.pdf
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20140509191226/http://www.u2faqs.com/songs/ to http://www.u2faqs.com/songs/
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20080920122545/http://www.omagh.gov.uk/the_council/press_releases/item.php?id=396 to http://www.omagh.gov.uk/the_council/press_releases/item.php?id=396

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Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 03:19, 28 November 2017 (UTC)

Number of fatalities
In this article it is noted that 29 people were killed in the bombing, and also two unborn (twins) children. The boxout on the right states the number 29.

By contrast, the article on the Dublin and Monaghan bombings notes that 34 people were killed including one unborn child. The number in the boxout is 34.

For consistency, the numbers in the boxouts for each article should either be 34 and 31, or 33 and 29.

See also my post on the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. 75.177.79.101 (talk) 03:43, 20 January 2018 (UTC)

 * We should have it read: 31 (2 unborn). Irishpolitical (talk) 18:18, 17 June 2018 (UTC)

 * 33 and 29, per CAIN and other sources. Bastun Ėġáḍβáś₮ŭŃ! 22:51, 17 June 2018 (UTC)

Target
Although the original intended target was the courthouse, the car was parked 365 yards away from it, making it obviously impossible for the blast to damage that building. Even if there weren't any places that the bombers could park the car which were nearer to it, they must have changed their target to the town/shoppers/staff/residents etc. It can't reasonably be claimed that when the bombers parked it, they intended or expected it to damage the courthouse, so that wasn't the target that they finally decided on. Therefore the ibox needs to be amended. Jim Michael (talk) 08:42, 9 June 2019 (UTC)
 * Do you have any reliable sources for the intentions of the bombers? FDW777 (talk) 08:01, 25 June 2019 (UTC)
 * No, which is why I'm asking here. If I had reliable sources clearly stating the actual final target I'd add it to the article myself. It would have been obvious to them that the blast couldn't reach the courthouse, so to state as fact in the article that they intended to damage the courthouse with a car bomb they parked 365 yards away is obviously ridiculous. They chose to detonate their bomb in the busiest street in County Tyrone's largest town in mid-afternoon on a Saturday when it was very busy with shoppers. If the aim were to damage the courthouse, they'd have chosen the early hours of the morning, when far fewer people had been around & it would have been easy to park the car bomb near it. Jim Michael (talk) 02:06, 6 July 2019 (UTC)

Membership of Serial Killer task force
A question has been raised on my Talk page by Ianmacm about this article's membership of the Serial Killer task force. As Ian has reverted my edit here, and has subsequently reverted his own reversion, I think it is prudent to discuss and explain why this article is a member of the task force when it is not about a serial killer. The scope of the task force includes ".. serial killers, mass murderers, and spree killers ..." and I presume the murderous events they perpetrate. By looking at links under the counts in the assessment table for the task force I found that this article, along with many others, did not have an importance assessment. Consequently, I gave it one and assessed it as Low because I do not see this article as being of particular importance to the task force, as it was only a single act of Mass Murder rather than a biography of the Mass Murderer(s) who perpetrated the bombing. The article is far more important to other WikiProjects, and I gave higher importance ratings accordingly to other projects. If you have a different view, you are welcome to reassess the ratings I have given as well as give me feedback about why you think differently. - Cameron Dewe (talk) 22:01, 8 October 2021 (UTC)

 * Here's what I said on 's talk page: "The article serial killer says "A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more people, usually in service of abnormal psychological gratification, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them." One off incidents at a single location, no matter how many people they kill, are not serial killings. Also, terrorist incidents where the motive was political or religious are not normally defined as serial killings." The problem seems to be that the Serial Killer task force includes articles that clearly fall outside this definition. I don't want to get involved in edit wars, but it is clear that the Omagh bombing is not a serial killing, and this also applies to numerous other articles with the SKTF template.-- ♦Ian Ma c M♦  (talk to me) 07:22, 9 October 2021 (UTC)

 * Clearly this article is outside the scope of the 'serial killer' task force, by any standard definition of the term. There is a world of difference between "serial killers, mass murderers and spree killers" on the one hand, and terrorist, paramilitary and conventional armed forces actions, on the other. Bastun Ėġáḍβáś₮ŭŃ! 07:32, 9 October 2021 (UTC)

 * I agree with Ianmacm: The Omagh bombing is not a serial killing! But somebody else thinks this article IS within the scope of the Serial Killer task force, as it has been a member since 2018. I think the problem that both Ian and Bastun have is that the task force name/title is misleading as the inclusion criteria or scope of the task force is really about multiple or mass murder, either serially or on one occasion and it does not exclude either politically or religious motivated murders or terrorism. I do think Ian is taking the task force name at face value and applying a stricter view based on the definition of a "serial killer". Applying Ian's more restrictive view would probably reduce the the task force articles to mostly the biographies of serial killers. This could even mean that articles about the victims of the murders committed by a serial killer would be excluded, because those are single events and don't meet the definition of happening over an extended period of time. Meanwhile, I have assumed that the less restrictive scope of the task force, as stated on the WikiProject page, applies to any existing article with the SKTF template if it relates to any form of multiple or mass murder whether these occur serially or on a single occasion, including the acts perpetrated, not just the perpetrators. Perhaps this is a too generous approach. I would observe that almost all the articles I have assessed, including this one, already had the Serial Killer task force banner template on their talk page. All I have done is assess the designated articles for their quality and then assign an importance and/or class rating. I do think this argument needs to be taken to the WikiProject Serial Killer task force talk page as, if nothing else, the WikiProject's name is misleading. - Cameron Dewe (talk) 09:24, 9 October 2021 (UTC)

 * The scope of the SKTF is much broader than its name suggests. Its banner states that it includes mass murders, which this bombing clearly was. Neither the banner nor project page make any exclusions due to victims, method, context, ideology, type of perpetrator etc. Jim Michael (talk) 17:52, 21 October 2021 (UTC)

 * Consensus here and on the serial killer task force page is that terrorism and Troubles-related articles are beyond the scope of the "Serial-killer task force". Please do not re-add without gaining consensus. Bastun Ėġáḍβáś₮ŭŃ! 21:07, 22 October 2021 (UTC)

 * There's no consensus to change the task froce's scope - there's merely a few people not understanding that it extends way beyond what its name suggests. Jim Michael (talk) 20:01, 25 October 2021 (UTC)

 * While the ambition of the 18 active members of the Serial Killer "Task Force" is beyond doubt, their scope - which appears to be "every incident or perpetrator where more than one person at a time is killed, be that by 'ordinary' murder, killing spree, terrorist act or military conflict; plus serial killers" - would appear to be just a tad broad. Bastun Ėġáḍβáś₮ŭŃ! 11:37, 26 October 2021 (UTC)
 * The scope isn't quite what you stated - it's mass, spree & serial. Legitimate military actions aren't included. Jim Michael (talk) 13:41, 26 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Agreed, there are plenty of specific wikiprojects available, so it is misleading to start off with the title "Serial Killer Task Force" and then include incidents that are obviously not serial killings.-- ♦Ian Ma c M♦  (talk to me) 12:38, 26 October 2021 (UTC)
 * The task force's name is misleading - it should be renamed to avoid the resulting frequent misunderstanding. Very often, the banner is removed with an edit summary such as this doesn't involve serial killing before being replaced with a summary such as: true, but the SKTF also covers mass murders & spree killing. Jim Michael (talk) 13:41, 26 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Oh, only "legitimate" military actions? Given the conclusions of the Saville Inquiry, then, I'll remove the "task force" banner from Bloody Sunday (1972), then. Bastun Ėġáḍβáś₮ŭŃ! 15:32, 26 October 2021 (UTC)
 * The specifics of Bloody Sunday are disputed, but the first sentence of Bloody Sunday describes it as a massacre. It's in mass murder & massacre cats; the article doesn't portray it as legitimate. Jim Michael (talk) 15:51, 26 October 2021 (UTC)

Death toll again
Re this edit: BBC, RTE and CNN give the death toll as 29.. Seamus Daly was charged with the murder of 29 people. There is an element of WP:RGW when including the unborn twins in the death toll, and the article should stick to what the sources say.  ♦Ian Ma c M♦  (talk to me) 17:56, 2 February 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Omagh bombing


text:
The Long Kiss Goodnight

The Long Kiss Goodnight is a 1996 American action thriller film co-produced and directed by Renny Harlin, and produced by Shane Black and Stephanie Austin with screenplay written by Black. It stars Geena Davis, Samuel L. Jackson, John Cena, Tom Amandes, Yvonne Zima, Brian Cox, Patrick Malahide, Craig Bierko and David Morse. The story follows an amnesiac schoolteacher (Davis) who sets out to recover her identity with the help of a private detective (Jackson) when they discover a dark conspiracy.

Released by New Line Cinema on October 11, 1996, it grossed almost $96 million against a budget of $65 million, and gained a strong cult following.

Plot
Samantha Caine is a schoolteacher in small-town Honesdale, Pennsylvania, living with her boyfriend, Hal, and her daughter, Caitlin. Eight years earlier, she was found washed ashore on a New Jersey beach, pregnant with Caitlin and totally amnesiac. Having never remembered her real name, "Samantha" has hired a number of ineffective private investigators to discover her past, the latest being the down-on-his-luck Mitch Henessey. During the Christmas holidays, Samantha is involved in a car accident and suffers a brief concussion; when she recovers, she finds she possesses skills with a knife that she cannot explain. Shortly thereafter, the family home is broken into by "One-Eyed Jack", a convict who escaped from jail after seeing Samantha's face on television. Samantha demonstrates her fighting prowess by killing Jack bare-handed. Worried that she poses a danger to Hal and Caitlin, Samantha leaves with Mitch, who has found a suitcase belonging to her, to seek out answers.

The suitcase contains a note directing them to Dr. Nathan Waldman. They arrange to meet at a train station unaware that government agents are tapping the doctor's calls. En route, Samantha discovers the bottom of the suitcase contains a disassembled sniper rifle which she can expertly reassemble, along with other weapons. When Samantha and Mitch go to meet Waldman at the station, they are attacked by a team of agents who shoot numerous bystanders, but the two escape with Waldman's help. The doctor informs Samantha that she is really an expert CIA assassin, Charlene Elizabeth "Charly" Baltimore, who had disappeared eight years earlier.

Unsure if they can trust Waldman, Samantha and Mitch leave him behind and seek another contact named on a note in the suitcase, Luke, believing he may be Charly's fiancé.

Waldman catches up with them and tries to warn them that Luke is actually Charly's last assassination target, "Daedalus". However, Luke kills Dr. Waldman. Samantha is then tortured for information. During this process, her real identity fully resurfaces and her memory returns. Samantha frees herself, kills Luke, and escapes with Mitch. Samantha completes her physical transformation back to Charly, cutting her hair and dying it platinum blonde. Charly realizes that her "Samantha Caine" personality was a cover to get near to Daedalus eight years earlier.

A psychological-operations specialist named Timothy, with whom Charly once had a romantic relationship, kidnaps Caitlin.

Charly and Mitch learn about Daedalus' involvement in "Project Honeymoon", which she disrupted on her mission, resulting in One-Eyed Jack's incarceration; "Project Honeymoon" was intended to be a false flag chemical bomb detonation in Niagara Falls, planned by the CIA in an attempt to blame Islamic terrorists and secure more funding. Charly realizes that Timothy and a new group is plotting to restage the attack, led by CIA Director Leland Perkins. In Niagara Falls, where Timothy has taken Caitlin, he captures Mitch and Charly. She tells Timothy that he is Caitlin's biological father and implores him not to hurt their daughter, but Timothy is ultimately unmoved, locking Charly and Caitlin in a freezer to kill them.

Charly and Caitlin break out of the freezer by detonating barrels of kerosene and then freeing Mitch, who helps Charly attack the staging area. This forces Timothy to launch the attack early; meanwhile, Caitlin locks herself in a cage on the truck carrying the bomb. Charly chases the truck, overpowers its driver, diverts it from a Christmas parade, and overturns it on the Niagara Falls International Bridge leading to Canada.

Charly frees Caitlin but they cannot get away from the bomb, which is about to explode, as Timothy and his agents attack them from a helicopter. Mitch suddenly arrives in a car, picking up Charly and Caitlin and entering Canada just before the bomb explodes, which kills Timothy and his forces and destroys the bridge.

In an epilogue, Charly has returned to her assumed identity of Samantha Caine, moving with Caitlin and Hal to a remote farmhouse and declining an offer from the president to join the State Department (which could imply rejoining the CIA). Mitch enjoys the publicity attracted by his role in the crisis and is interviewed by Larry King on television about Perkins, who was indicted for treason.

Cast
In addition, Joseph McKenna plays One-Eyed Jack, while Larry King has a cameo as himself.

Production
In 1994, New Line Cinema paid a then-record US$4million (equivalent to $ million in ) for Shane Black's script.

In an early cut of the film, Mitch Henessey died, but during a test screening an audience member shouted, "You can't kill Sam Jackson!" Harlin changed the final cut so that Jackson's character survived.

On February 27, 1996, during filming at the 127-year-old Windermere House in Ontario, Canada, a fire broke out, leaving only the stone verandah intact. There was speculation that it was caused by film lighting; however, it may have been a short circuit. When the fire started, filming was taking place on the frozen lake, with the house lighted from within to be seen in the background. It is unknown whether the fire was directly associated with filming, but the building was otherwise closed for the winter. Ironically, some of the remaining scenes there involved fire, but the real fire prevented them from being shot. The film crew helped evacuate nearby homes, but the fire did not spread beyond the building.

Box office
Over its opening weekend, the film grossed $9,065,363 from 2,245 theaters, coming in third among films opening that weekend. It grossed $33,447,612 in the US and Canada and $62,009,149 internationally, for a worldwide gross of $95,456,761.

Renny Harlin blamed the film's poor performance on confusing advertising, but Shane Black wondered if it might have been more successful if it were about a man: 'It might have made more money, they told me, but it had to be a woman. The lead had to be female.' It has also been suggested that the film's poor advertising campaign and lukewarm critical reception may have been a carry-over effect from Renny Harlin and Geena Davis's previous collaboration, Cutthroat Island, which was released 10 months earlier and was one of the biggest box office bombs of all time.

Critical reception
The Long Kiss Goodnight received mainly positive reviews. It holds a 68% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes based on 59 reviews, with an average rating of 6.1/10. The site's consensus states: "Smart, sharp-witted, and fueled by enjoyably over-the-top action, The Long Kiss Goodnight makes up in impact what it lacks in consistent aim." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 44 out of 100 based on reviews from 20 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a median grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.

Christine James from Boxoffice gave it 3 and a half out of 5 stars, calling it "a lot of fun", but believing that there were some weaknesses in the script. Roger Ebert gave it 2 and a half out of 4 stars, stating, "I admired it as an example of craftsmanship, but what a lot of time and money to spend on something of no real substance." In 2014, Time Out polled several film critics, directors, actors and stunt actors to list their top action films and The Long Kiss Goodnight placed 82nd on the list.

In retrospect, Geena Davis said: “I love that movie. My character might be my favorite role—it’s a close call between Thelma and that one. Anyway, that movie came out great and got some good reception, but it didn’t soar to heights, let’s say, perhaps as we wanted it to.” Samuel L. Jackson stated that The Long Kiss Goodnight was his favorite movie to watch that he was in. Of all the films he’s made, Renny Harlin said The Long Kiss Goodnight was his favorite:

"'It is definitely. For me it’s just very simple. It's a movie that had a really good screenplay, which meant that I was able to get really good actors … It's always challenging to make a movie, but it sure makes it easier when you have a good screenplay like in that one. When you have characters that are complex, and you have good drama, and have some humour and some good action, you kind of have all the ingredients. When you have that you don't even need some crazy special effects—you just need to let the characters do their thing. It was a great experience.'"

Sequel
The last page of Black's original 1994 script stated that there would be a sequel called The Kiss After Lightning that never happened.

While a possible sequel was reportedly in the works in 2007, no sequel has been produced.

title: The Long Kiss Goodnight


text:
Khobar

Khobar (ٱلْخُبَر) is a city and governorate in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, situated on the coast of the Persian Gulf. With a population of 409,549 as of 2022 in the city core and 658,550 in the governorate, Khobar is part of the 'Triplet Cities' area, or Dammam metropolitan area along with Dammam and Dhahran, forming the residential core of the region.

The city was founded alongside Dammam by the Dawasir who moved there in 1923 fearing British persecution with the permission of King Abdulaziz Al Saud. Khobar experienced rapid growth during and after the discovery of oil in Saudi Arabia as it served as the port for the oil exports of Saudi Aramco in the company's early days. Traditionally, Khobar has also been a city of shopkeepers and merchants, and today has several shopping malls in and around it.

The city is the newest in the Dammam metropolitan area, facing the Persian Gulf with its 16-km long Corniche Road, which runs parallel to the city's eastern coast. Khobar is also considered a resort town as its southern suburbs of the city face the Half Moon Bay and host several beaches and beach resorts. By night, the quiet city turns into a bustling one, with some of the largest malls in the kingdom, such as the Mall of Dhahran and the al-Rashid Mall. The city is also home to the historic Suwaiket Street, officially known as Prince Bandar ibn Abdulaziz Street, which is home to some of the oldest markets in the city. The same could said about King Khalid Street and Prince Mohammed Street.

The Khobar governorate is further divided into several municipalities, with Khobar as their capital. 'Issam ibn Abdullatif al-Mulla has been serving as the mayor of the governorate from the Islamic year 1428 AH.

History
The city shares a similar history with Dammam. In the early 1930s, Khobar was mainly a fishing hamlet inhabited by members of the Dawasir tribe, who moved there in 1923, fearing British persecution with the permission of King Abdulaziz. The tribe settled in Khobar for its proximity to Bahrain as they had hoped to return to their homeland. The Khobar Governorate was incorporated in 1942 and with the discovery of oil in nearby areas, a port was built in the southern parts of the modern city to facilitate the export of petroleum to Bahrain. The city quickly transformed into a residential hub and a commercial and industrial port. It soon lost these privileges as commercial operations were transferred to the King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam and the petroleum exports were transferred to Ras Tanura. As a result, Khobar retained its status as the residential core of the area, but over time, its streets slowly became densely packed with markets. Its northern waterfront along the Persian Gulf has been transformed into a corniche, with beaches and resorts to the south on Half Moon Bay.

While most of Khobar's districts are built upon the grid system, unlike Dammam, most of the buildings in the city's main districts are a mix of commercial and residential complexes, with masjids of varied designs and colours adorning its many streets.

Islamist militants carried out attacks in 1996 and 2004.

Climate
Khobar has a desert climate (BWh), like the majority of the Saudi Arabian desert under the Köppen climate classification; with very hot, dry summers and mild to warm, dry winters. Light rain with frequent heavy spells and thunderstorms is common during winters and spring; with small episodes of hail taking place during the winters. Much like Dammam, Khobar also experiences the urban heat island effect.

The average annual temperature is 33 °C during the day and 22 °C at night. January is the coldest month with temperatures ranging from 12 to 22 C during the day to 3 to 18 C at night. In the warmest month, June, the typical temperature ranges from 36 to 50 C during the day to about 33 °C at night. Generally, summer lasts about five months, from May to September. Two months, April and October, are transitional, but the transition between seasons is rather quick. Large fluctuations in temperature are rare, particularly in the summer months.

Air
Khobar is served by the largest airport in the world in terms of surface area: King Fahd International Airport. The airport plot is about 77,600 hectares (776 square kilometers) in area, which is slightly bigger than the country of Bahrain. and it is located 20 km northwest of Dammam. From Khobar, the terminal is approximately 50 km away.

Road
Khobar is connected with the major highways in the region including the Dhahran–Jubail Expressway, Highway 95 and Highway 605 (also known as the Khobar–Dammam Highway) which links Khobar directly to the King Fahd International Airport via the heart of Dammam. Khobar hosts the King Fahd Causeway, which links Saudi Arabia to Bahrain. Khobar is also connected to highways to other Middle-Eastern countries such as Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Sea
While the historic port of Khobar was destroyed, a new port is being constructed south of Khobar's South Corniche and is expected to handle civilian port activities.

Rail
The nearest railway station to Khobar is the Dammam railway station, which offers connections via its 449 km Dammam–Riyadh line to Abqaiq, Hofuf and Riyadh.

Human resources
Khobar is a city with multiple lifestyle centers and shopping malls, The city also has the Corniche which is lined with several international and local chain restaurants, coffee shops, and boutiques of all kinds. People from the neighboring GCC states and from the rest of the country visit the city to do activities such as fishing, scuba diving, water sports, and shopping.

Hospitals
Khobar hosts several government-funded public and private hospitals including the Mouwasat Medical Services Al Khobar, AGH Khobar, Mohammad Dossary Hospital (MDH), King Fahd University Hospital (KFUH), and the Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Hospital.

Education
The first school in Khobar was established in 1942.

Primary and secondary education
Today, Khobar is home to more than 100 public and private educational institutes. Saudi Arabian International School Pakistani Section (SAISPS) is one of the most popular and affordable school in Eastern Region for Pakistani community. Indian schools affiliated with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) are the most common forms of international schools with countries such as Pakistan and Bangladesh also operating their own schools with their own curricula. Private American and British educational institutes are also present.

Higher education
King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals and Prince Mohammad bin Fahd University are two universities that are located within or close to Khobar. Students may also go to other universities in the city of Dammam.

Natural landmarks
Being a residential area, Khobar is famous for its many recreational parks which are decorated with different monuments including Prince Ibn Jalawy Park, Eskan Park.

Arts and architecture
In March 2019, the Sharqiah Season, part of the Saudi Seasons initiative, attracted an estimated 730,000 visitors to multiple cities in the Eastern Province including Khobar under the supervision of the General Authority for Entertainment, with 83 events held across 17 days in 9 cities, celebrating the country's diverse culture, Most notable of the events that took place in Khobar was the Bollywood Festival, designed to attract the city's expatriate majority, featuring Salman Khan. Other artists who participated in the Khobar events of the Sharqiah Season include Tiësto and Sean Paul. The Khobar Corniche is a 16-km stretch of parks and a corniche running parallel to the eastern coast of the city along the Persian Gulf and hosting some of the cities most famous attractions. It has been divided into two parts, the South Corniche and the North Corniche. The King Fahd Causeway is a series of causeways and bridges between Saudi Arabia and the Kingdom of Bahrain. The bridge is about 25 kilometers long from the Saudi toll plaza to the Bahraini toll plaza, and 23.2 meters wide. It was officially opened on 25 November 1986 and is named after King Fahd of Saudi Arabia. The bridge has a maximum capacity of 28,000 cars and 1000 trucks. It has achieved many economic and social benefits for both countries.

The Khobar Water Tower is situated on a man-made peninsula in the northern reaches of the Khobar Corniche. The Khobar Water Tower is a 90 meter tall, eight-story tower, with a revolving restaurant on the top, overlooking the city. It has been called the Eastern Province's "top tourist attraction". The tower hosts fireworks shows on special occasions such as the arrival of Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. The Prince Sultan Science & Technology Center (also known as SciTech) is a science exhibit located directly in view of the Khobar Water Tower and north of the North Corniche of Khobar. The center has five permanent exhibits, known as Scientific Halls, each dedicated to a different branch of science. The center also hosts an IMAX cinema which generally only shows movies that are scientific and/or non-fictional. The center is open every day of the week from 9 am till 9 pm, except for Friday, where it opens from 4 pm till 9 pm.

Sports
The most popular sport among the Saudis of Khobar is football. The Al-Qadsiah FC (Saudi Professional League) and the Al-Nahda Club (Saudi First Division) are two of the teams based in Khobar and Dammam, with their home grounds being at Prince Saud bin Jalawi Stadium and Prince Mohammad bin Fahd Stadium, respectively. Expatriates of the city have brought with them several sports, such as cricket, volleyball, badminton, and kho kho, among others.

title: Khobar


text:
Talk:Akira Kurosawa

Common Themes
I suggest someone add the quote listed in the NY Times that says "I suppose all of my films have a common theme, Mr. Kurosawa once told the film scholar Donald Richie. If I think about it, though, the only theme I can think of is really a question: Why can't people be happier together? "

I don't think that's the full truth of the matter, there are other reoccurring themes, but it's a good start. Personally, I find that Kurosawa has taken a pretty strong stance against fighting and war as a means to a good end. This might be what he is referring to in his above statement. This is evident in the Seven Samurai at the end when the samurai are disappointed that they fought a war for the peasants who were ungrateful. In Kagemusha the story also ends in a bloody battle that the protagonists tried to prevent from occurring. In Dreams, there are several stories where war has caused major problems, one in which the main character, a veteran has a dream of his dead war comrades as well as the story about the horned demons who exist because of radiation caused by a nuclear blast.

There might be a slight connection between the theme of "nothing is ever as it initially appears" or "Hidden Identity" as well. Rashomon is the biggest example, but in the Hidden fortress, the two peasants are unsuspecting of the princess and the general because of their false identity. Kagemusha also supports this theme with the "shadow warrior" of the late lord. Seven Samurai has Mifune's character, who is actually a farmer not a true blue samurai. (and don't quote me on this one, but I believe in Ikiru the main character starts out by telling those around him, the girl and the writer, that he is someone who he is not. I will have to rewatch that one to find out for certain).

In general, I agree with your last point, although I might call it "buried identity" or "suppressed identity," which in the course of the story slowly emerges. In RED BEARD, the talented but selfish young doctor prides himself on his skills but despises the poverty of the clinic and its poor. By the end, his compassionate self has emerged and his determination to serve others. This is symbolized by the moment when, for the first time, he puts on the same humble uniform as the other doctors. In KAGEMUSHA, the trickster imposter gradually assumes the self-sacrificing nobility of the ruler he impersonates. In THE SEVEN SAMURAI, the wild farmer's son (Toshiro Mifune) lives and dies as bravely as the samurai he yearned to be--indeed, he has become a samurai. Younggoldchip (talk) 16:42, 11 February 2019 (UTC)

RE: mistake
The Author of this article credits Stray Dog as Kurosawa's first collaboration with Toshiro Mifune, when it is in fact Kurosawa's breakthrough film, Drunken Angel which first starred the then unknown Mifune in a Kurosawa film. Drunken Angel was released in April of 1948 while Stray Dog was released in October of 1949. By this point Kurosawa had already collaborated with mifune a second time in The Quiet Duel. I believe it is important to recognize the significance of Drunken Angel, It is a spectacular film that is tremendously important to Japanese cinema and it is also responsible for launching Mifune's career as a actor and also introducing Kurosawa as a truly talented and skilled director. Donald Ritchie notes the importance of this film in his book, The Films of Akira Kurosawa. "Japanese critics have agreed that this picture is to Japanese cinema as Paisa or Bicycle Thieves is to Italian, that it perfectly epitomizes a period, its hopes, its fears: that it marks the major 'breakthrough' of a major directorial talent who has finally 'realized' himself."(Ritchie, 47) I will try to formalize this correction within the actual article, but am new to Wikipedia, so if anyone reads this and notices that the error was left uncorrected than please assume I was unable to do so and please correct it if you are able.

 * Any quoted material is taken from The Films of Akira Kurosawa by Donald Ritchie.

unclear
What does this mean? "In 1990, he accepted the Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement. Posthumously, he was named "Asian of the Century" in the "Arts, Literature, and Culture" category by AsianWeek magazine and CNN, cited there as being among the five people who most prominently contributed to the improvement of Asia in the 20th century."Kdammers (talk) 04:44, 13 September 2020 (UTC)

Images
Why do we have only one close image of Kurosawa-sensei from the 1950s and one very small image of him in a group picture? Why on earth are there images of people like Dostoyevski, Ed McBain, Steven Spielberg, and a bust of Ingmar Bergman, but no later pictures of the subject of the article? I'm not the best person for the job, but I think there should be at least one more recent image of the subject of the article; probably more.

*Septegram*Talk*Contributions* 17:47, 22 October 2020 (UTC)
 * It would be preferable to have more pictures of Kurosawa in this article, but that's all dependent on what photos Wikipedia can get permission to use, preferably those which are in the public domain or available under a Creative Commons license. --Metropolitan90 (talk) 06:07, 11 October 2022 (UTC)

I found a better image of Kurosawa from 1960. It is slightly later in time period, and it shows the front of his face instead of the side. It is also the one used on the Japanese wikipedia article of his. Should we use it as the infobox image? Windywendi (talk) 22:07, 31 August 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Akira Kurosawa