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Politics of the European Union

The political structure of the European Union (EU) is similar to a confederation, where many policy areas are federalised into common institutions capable of making law; the competences to control foreign policy, defence policy, or the majority of direct taxation policies are mostly reserved for the twenty-seven state governments (the Union does limit the level of variation allowed for VAT). These areas are primarily under the control of the EU's member states although a certain amount of structured co-operation and coordination takes place in these areas. For the EU to take substantial actions in these areas, all Member States must give their consent. Union laws that override State laws are more numerous than in historical confederations; however, the EU is legally restricted from making law outside its remit or where it is no more appropriate to do so at a state or local level (subsidiarity) when acting outside its exclusive competences. The principle of subsidiarity does not apply to areas of exclusive competence.

The common institutions mix the intergovernmental and supranational (similar to federal) aspects of the EU. The EU treaties declare the Union to be based on representative democracy, and direct elections take place in the European Parliament. The Parliament, together with the Council, form the legislative arm of the EU. The council is composed of state governments, thus representing the intergovernmental nature of the EU. Laws are proposed by the European Commission which is appointed by and accountable to the Parliament and Council although it has very few executive powers.

Although direct elections take place every five years, there are no cohesive political parties in the national sense. Instead, there are alliances of ideologically associated parties who sit and vote together in Parliament. The two largest parties are the European People's Party (centre-right, mostly Christian Democrat) and the Party of European Socialists (centre-left, mostly Social Democrat) with the former forming the largest group in Parliament since 1999. As well as there being left and right dividing lines in European politics, there are also divides between those for and against European integration (Pro-Europeanism and Euroscepticism) which shapes the continually changing nature of the EU which adopts successive reforming treaties. The latter was a significant political force in the United Kingdom in the decades and years before leaving the Union, and some member states are less integrated than others due to legal opt-outs.

Legal basis
The democratic legitimation of the European Union rests on the Treaty System. The move toward unification first arose in the Kellogg-Briand Pact in 1928, which gained adherent countries during negotiations and took on a theme of integration for the achievement of peace between the Great Powers. After the Second World War, European society sought to end conflict permanently between states, seeing the rivalry between France and Germany as the most worrying example. In the spirit of the Marshall Plan, those two states signed the Treaty of Paris in 1951, establishing the European Coal and Steel Community. Since then, the Treaty of Paris, which focused on price setting and competition for purposes of a common market, has been superseded. The legal basis for the European Community now rests on two treaties: the Treaty of Rome of 1958; and the Treaty of Maastricht of 1992. The various additions and modifications of treaties has led to a patchwork of policy and planning, which contributes to the unwieldiness of the EU. The pastiche of treaties, and not a single actualising charter of government, form the constitutional basis of the European Union. This ambiguity is what critics call a primary cause of "democratic deficit."

The EU itself is a legal personality and a set of governing institutions empowered by the treaties. However sovereignty is not invested in those institutions, it is pooled with ultimate sovereignty resting with the state governments. Yet in those areas where the EU has been granted competences, it does have the power to pass binding and direct laws upon its members.

Competences
The competences of the European Union stem from the original Coal and Steel Community, which had as its goal an integrated market. The original competences were regulatory in nature, restricted to matters of maintaining a healthy business environment. Rulings were confined to laws covering trade, currency, and competition. Increases in the number of EU competences result from a process known as functional spillover. Functional spillover resulted in, first, the integration of banking and insurance industries to manage finance and investment. The size of the bureaucracies increased, requiring modifications to the treaty system as the scope of competences integrated more and more functions. While member states hold their sovereignty inviolate, they remain within a system to which they have delegated the tasks of managing the marketplace. These tasks have expanded to include the competences of free movement of persons, employment, transportation, and environmental regulation.

Types of legislation
The Ordinary Legislative Procedure (OLP) is the formal, main legislative procedure. In OLP, the European Parliament (EP) and the Council act in much the same way as a bicameral congress, such as the British Upper and Lower Houses or the American Congress. The co-decision rule in Maastricht, and the subsequent Lisbon Treaty, ultimately gave the EP and the Council equal weight and formalised OLP as the main legislative procedure. It also gives the EP veto power. The two legislative powers of the OLP are directives and regulations. A directive requires the member states to pass the new law individually, a process called "transposition." The difference in the timing of completing transposition is the "democratic deficit." A regulation acts on all the member states at once and is effective immediately.

The other legislation option is the Special Legislative Procedure (SLP). The SLP consists of the passing of laws proposed by member states, the Central Bank or Investment Bank, or the Court of Justice. Judicial activism—the interpretation of the spirit of law rather than the letter of law—is handled by the SLP. The procedure is discussed either in the EP with consultation with the council, or in the council with participation of the EP. In other words, the consultative role stops short of the equal weight given to both the EP and the council. While provided for in the treaties, the SLP is not as formal as the OLP, relying less on the hierarchical structure. This lends more credence to Kleine's argument of the contrariness of the EU's agenda-setting procedure.

Mechanics of legislation
In the OLP, there are four types of rulings: Regulations, Directives, Decisions, and Recommendations. Decision-making is shared by the European Parliament and the council, which are equally weighted. Regulations are binding on all member states effective immediately. Directives are binding on all member states, but the implementation is left up to the national courts in a process called transposition. However, since member states set their own timelines for transposition, there is a democratic deficit between states. Decisions are binding on non-state litigants to whom they are addressed. Recommendations are intended to guide legal judgments and are non-binding, similar to opinions.

In the SLP, the council is the sole ruling body. The European Parliament is involved strictly in a consultative role and can be ignored.

Member states
There are twenty-seven member states who have conferred powers upon the EU institutions (other countries are tied to the EU in other ways). In exchange for conferring competences, EU states are assigned votes in the Council, seats in Parliament and a European Commissioner among other things. The internal government of member states vary between presidential systems, monarchies, federations, and microstates however all members must respect the Copenhagen criteria of being democratic, respecting human rights and having a free market economy. Members joined over time, starting with the original six in 1958 and more members joining in the near future.

Some member states are outside certain areas of the EU, for example the eurozone is composed of only 20 of the 27 members and the Schengen Agreement currently includes only 23 of the EU members. However, the majority of these are in the process of joining these blocs. A number of countries outside the EU are involved in certain EU activities such as the euro, Schengen, single market or defence.

Institutions
The primary institutions of the European Union are the European Commission, the European Council, the Council of the European Union (Council) and the European Parliament.

The ordinary legislative procedure, applies to nearly all EU policy areas. Under the procedure, the Commission presents a proposal to Parliament and the council. They then send amendments to the Council which can either adopt the text with those amendments or send back a "common position". That proposal may either be approved or further amendments may be tabled by the Parliament. If the Council does not approve those, then a "Conciliation Committee" is formed. The committee is composed of the Council members plus an equal number of MEPs who seek to agree a common position. Once a position is agreed, it has to be approved by Parliament again by an absolute majority. There are other special procedures used in sensitive areas which reduce the power of Parliament.

Parliament
The European Parliament shares the legislative and budgetary authority of the Union with the council. Its 705 members are elected every five years by universal suffrage and sit according to political allegiance. It represents all European Citizens in the EU's legislative process, in contrast to the council, which represents the Member States. Despite forming one of the two legislative chambers of the Union, it has weaker powers than the Council in some limited areas, and does not have legislative initiative. It does, however, have powers over the Commission which the Council does not. The powers of the Parliament have increased substantially over the years, and in nearly all areas it now has equal power to the council.

European Council

The European Council is the group of heads of state or government of the EU member states. It meets four times a year to define the Union's policy agenda and give impetus to integration. The President of the European Council is the person responsible for chairing and driving forward the work of the institution, which has been described as the highest political body of the European Union.

Council of the European Union
The Council of the European Union (informally known as the Council of Ministers or just the council) is a body holding legislative and some limited executive powers and is thus the main decision-making body of the Union. Its Presidency rotates between the states every six months. The council is composed of twenty-eight national ministers (one per state). However, the Council meets in various forms depending upon the topic. For example, if agriculture is being discussed, the council will be composed of each national minister for agriculture. They represent their governments and are accountable to their national political systems. Votes are taken either by majority or unanimity with votes allocated according to population.

Commission
The European Commission is composed of one appointee from each state, currently twenty-seven, but is designed to be independent of national interests. The body is responsible for drafting all law of the European Union and has a monopoly over legislative initiative. It also deals with the day-to-day running of the Union and has a duty to uphold the law and treaties (in this role it is known as the "Guardian of the Treaties").

The commission is led by a President who is nominated by the council (in practice the European Council) and approved by Parliament. The remaining twenty-seven Commissioners are nominated by member-states, in consultation with the President, and has their portfolios assigned by the President. The Council then adopts this list of nominee-Commissioners. The council's adoption of the commission is not an area which requires the decision to be unanimous, their acceptance is arrived at according to the rules for qualified majority voting. The European Parliament then interviews and casts its vote upon the Commissioners. The interviews of individual nominees are conducted separately, in contrast to Parliament's vote of approval which must be cast on the commission as a whole without the ability to accept or reject individual Commissioners. Once approval has been obtained from the Parliament the Commissioners can take office. The current president is Ursula von der Leyen (EPP); she was elected in 2019.

Elections

Direct elections take place to the European Parliament every five years. The Council and European Council is composed of nationally elected or appointed officials and thus are accountable according to national procedures. The commission also is not directly elected although future appointments of the President must take into account of results of Parliament's elections.

Parliament's elections are held by universal suffrage of EU citizens according to national restrictions (such as age and criminal convictions). Proportional representation is used in all parliamentary constituencies. Members of the European Parliament cannot also be elected nationally and are elected in national or sub-national constituencies. The first such election was in 1979, and the latest election was in 2024. The turnout was steadily falling in every EU election since 1979, until 2019, where it increased 8 pp from 42.6% to 50.7%, and then again in 2024 by 0.39 pp to 51.05%

Political parties
Political parties in the member states organise themselves with like-minded parties in other states into political parties at European level or Europarties. Most national parties are a member of one of these Europarties and there are currently 11 that are recognised and receive EU funding. Europarties behave and operate to a certain extent like national parties but only the larger ones (EPP, PES, ELDR) put forward comprehensive manifestos during the campaigns for the European elections.

The Europarties are horizontally present in all the main institutions – Council, Commission, Parliament – but are most active through their political groups in Parliament. At the beginning of every parliamentary term, most organise themselves with other parties, non-attached national parties or independents to form a political group. No party has ever held a majority in the Parliament, however this does not have a great effect as it does not form a government but there is usually a coalition between the two major parties to elect the President of the European Parliament.

Foreign affairs

The EU's chief diplomat, sometimes dubbed its foreign minister, is the High Representative, Josep Borrell. The foreign policy of the European Union is characterised as being:
 * Multi-facet as it is carried out through different venues namely the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP)(Title V, TEU), the external dimension of internal policies and the External Action of the EU (Part Three with Titles I, III, V, VIII, XIX, XX, XXI and Part Five with Titles II, III, IV and V of the TFEU).
 * Multi-method as it is materialised through different venues, in practice this means that it happens in two different legal settings, the first two policy field (CFSP and CSDP) are regulated through the TEU and the second group (external dimension and external action) are addressed by the TFEU. Since the TEU represents the "intergovernmental" character of the EU and the TFEU represents the "communitary method" (supranational), in the second we see the presence of actors such as the Commission and the European Parliament playing a rather important role whereas in the intergovernmental method, the decision lies in the hands of the Council under unanimity.
 * Multi-level because it is embedded in the international level with different international organisations (UNO, IMF, NATO and WTO). Member States are also members of these organisations adding new actors into the game. The EU itself is a member of some of these and in practice this mean that Member States have other options to "pick from".

Issues
The Financial Perspective for 2007–2013 was defined in 2005 when EU members agreed to fix the common budget to 1.045% of the European GDP. UK Prime Minister Tony Blair agreed to review the British rebate, negotiated by Margaret Thatcher in 1984. Former French president Jacques Chirac declared this increase in the budget will permit Europe to "finance common policies" such as the Common Agricultural Policy or the Research and Technological Development Policy. France's demand to lower the VAT in catering was refused. Controversial issues during budget debates include the British rebate, France's benefits from the Common Agricultural Policy, Germany and the Netherlands' large contributions to the EU budget, reform of the European Regional Development Funds, and the question of whether the European Parliament should continue to meet both in Brussels and Strasbourg.

The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE), commonly referred to as the European Constitution, is an international treaty intended to create a constitution for the European Union. The constitution was rejected by France and the Netherlands, where referendums were held causing other countries to postpone or halt their ratification procedures. Late in 2009, a new Reform Treaty was ratified by all member states of the European Union, and took effect on 1 December 2009.

Enlargement of the Union's membership is a major political issue, with division over how far the bloc should expand. While some see it as a major policy instrument aiding the Union's development, some fear over-stretch and dilution of the Union.

"Counter-nationalistic shearing stress" is the term coined by one commentator for the theoretical tendency of certain regions of larger countries of the EU to wish to become fully independent members within the wider context of the European Union's "bigger umbrella". If the Union is to become "ever closer", it follows that regions with their own distinctive histories and identities within the existing member nations may see little reason to have a layer of "insulation" between themselves and the EU. The surprisingly close vote on Scottish Independence in September 2014 may be seen in this context. Others have suggested that regions of Germany could be candidates for "Euro-Balkanisation", particularly given Germany's commitment to the EU project and to a more nuanced, mature view of the notion of national allegiance.

title: Politics of the European Union


text:
MR electric units

The Midland Railway experimented with electrification on its Heysham–Morecambe–Lancaster line in Lancashire, England. Electric trains started to run over this route in 1908, using the overhead 6.6 kV, 25 Hz AC electric supply installed and generated at the MR's own power station in Heysham.

The electric multiple units consisted of three driving motor coaches and six driving trailer coaches. Since the DM cars had a cab at each end, this allowed trains of one, two, or three cars to be formed.

Driving motors
The three DM cars were built by the MR at their Derby Works and were 60 ft in length. Two had Siemens electrical equipment fitted, while the third had Westinghouse equipment.

 * LMS numbers for the motor coaches 28610-28612

Driving trailers
Of the six DT cars, four were built new by the MR at their Derby works, while the other two were converted from existing hauled stock compartment coaches.

Withdrawal
In February 1951, these venerable units were finally withdrawn from service. Steam locomotive-hauled trains operated passenger services over the Lancaster–Heysham Line from then until August 1953, when electric trains took over again, this time the prototype Class AM1 units following the installation of the appropriate new equipment.

The line voltage remained at 6,600 but the frequency was altered to 50 Hz and this was transformed and rectified on the trains to supply DC traction motors. This experiment led to the introduction of the 25 kV, 50 Hz system as standard for new electrification on British Railways.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: MR electric units


text:
Emaar Properties

Emaar Properties (or simply Emaar) is an Emirati multinational real estate development company located in the United Arab Emirates. The two largest shareholders are Dubai ruler Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and the UAE's sovereign wealth fund Investment Corporation of Dubai.

It is a public joint-stock company, listed on the Dubai Financial Market, and has a valuation of US$16.8 billion as of August 2023 against the Net Asset Valuation of US$37.6 billion (AED 138.1B) as of December 2022 based on the valuation of assets done by third party valuer.

Emaar Properties Dubai is one of the largest real estate developers in the UAE and is known for various large-scale projects, such as developing Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world.

1997–2005
Emaar Properties was founded and incorporated in 1997 by chairman Mohamed Alabbar. Emaar has interests in both commercial and residential property development, as well as malls and hospitality. The Dubai government initially owned 100 percent of the company while the founding shareholders held 24.3 percent when operations as a public company commenced after the IPO in 2000. The following year, Emaar announced plans to build Dubai Marina. In 2000, Emaar Properties was listed on the Dubai Financial Market and became the first property company to offer shares to foreign nationals. The first phase of the company's developmental projects began in 2001 when Emaar awarded the contract in a joint venture to build three of the six apartment towers.

In 2003, the company revealed its plans for a signature development project, later known as Downtown Dubai. The project consisted of two developments: Burj Khalifa and The Dubai Mall, the world's tallest building and world's largest mall respectively.

Emaar International LLC was established in 2004 and signified Emaar's expansion into foreign markets. The company has undertaken projects in Africa, Asia, North America, and throughout the Middle East.

2006–present
The Dubai Mall officially opened in 2008, and Burj Khalifa in 2010. By 2014, Emaar was holding over $11.4 billion in real estate investments. In 2007, the company was majority-owned by Dubai's government.

In 2009, John Laing Homes, a subsidiary of Emaar Properties which was acquired in 2006, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US Court for the District of Delaware.

In July 2010, American businessman Lionel Lombard filed a lawsuit against Emaar Properties and its Chairman Mohamed Alabbar in a California federal court alleging he was wrongfully imprisoned and tortured because he had spoken up on behalf of Emaar foreign workers. The case was dismissed in November 2010 by Lombard.

In September 2012, Emaar launched the Address BLVD, a luxurious 72 storey hotel and hotel serviced apartment project in Downtown Burj Dubai adjacent to the Dubai Mall.

In 2014, Emaar Properties announced plans to sell shares of its malls and retail business to the public. The IPO is one of the largest in the region since the global financial crisis. Emaar Malls Group became a publicly traded company on the Dubai Financial Market in October 2014. Closing at 3.25 dirhams with approximately 535 million shares traded, the IPO was the largest in Dubai since 2007. Also in 2014, Emaar opened the world's highest observation deck, At the Top, Burj Khalifa SKY. The highest man-made vantage point sits 555 metres up on the 148th floor of Burj Khalifa.

Emaar marked the new year with the world's most watched New Year's Eve (NYE) celebration for 2015. According to Guinness World Records, Emaar oversaw the "Largest LED-Illuminated Façade" on the world's tallest man made structure" during the NYE celebrations. The record-setting display consisted of 70,000 LED panels that flashed coloured lights and projections of the country's leaders and other images on the Burj Khalifa. Emaar reported a 16 percent rise in second-quarter net profit for 2015, and that it has a land bank of over 235 million square metres.

In November 2020, Emaar Properties announced a profit fall of 48% from the beginning of the year until September.

In December 2020, Alabbar stepped down as Emaar chairman but continued to oversee the day-to-day activities as managing director.

The Dubai Mall, developed by Emaar Properties, is the second world's largest shopping mall. It marked its soft opening in November 2008 and was inaugurated in May 2009. The mall has over 1,200 stores and 200 restaurants. It is also home to Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo, KidZania, Dubai Ice Rink and the largest cinema complex in the region, Reel Cinemas. In 2014, The Dubai Mall had over 80 million visitors, of which 40 percent were tourists from outside the region. As an extension to Dubai Mall, Emaar began to develop a 55-storey residential building called Downtown Views.

Emaar Properties's Dubai Fountain is the tallest performing fountain in the world and began operating in the spring of 2009.

Emaar developed the world's tallest building, Burj Khalifa, which opened in 2010. The building is 2,716.5 feet tall with 160 storeys that are primarily for residential purposes. It is named after the Abu Dhabi ruler Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Emaar Properties has also developed a number of neighbourhoods throughout Dubai including Arabian Ranches, Dubai Marina, The Greens, The Meadows, The Lakes, and The Springs. In 2013, Emaar launched The Address Residence Fountain Views I, II, and III, The Address Residence Sky View, Burj Vista, Boulevard Point and Vida Residence—all in Downtown Dubai. A further addition to Downtown Dubai from Emaar was the Opera District. Key features include the Dubai Opera House, the country's first dedicated opera house.

In January 2015, Emaar Hospitality opened a boutique hotel, Manzil Downtown Dubai. The hotel is managed by Vida Hotels and Resorts and includes 200 rooms, suites with Burj Khalifa views, and access to a sports hub and several restaurants. Emaar rolled out the region's first hop-on-hop-off transit system with the Dubai Trolley. The trolley is also the world's first hydrogen-powered, zero-emission street tram system.

In 2016, Emaar Properties announced plans to build the world's tallest structure, which would be taller than Burj Khalifa. It was expected to be completed by 2020.

International projects
Through various subsidiaries, Emaar has established property developments and projects in Pakistan, India, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraqi Kurdistan, and Turkey. Some of the projects have included developments such as the Beit Misk in Lebanon, the Jeddah Gate in Saudi Arabia, and the Samarah Dead Sea Resort in Jordan.

Egypt
Emaar Misr began working on a $4 billion development project in 2005 on the Moqattam Plateau in Cairo, initially called Cairo Grand Heights that was later renamed Uptown Cairo. The project included building up an area as a residential, commercial, and recreational community.

In 2006, Emaar Misr, an Egyptian subsidiary of Emaar Properties, completed an agreement with the Bibliotheca Alexandrina to redevelop part of its property on the eastern harbor of Alexandria. The new library facility stands almost exactly where the ancient Library of Alexandria existed, however the project has never materialized.

In 2008, Emaar Misr began working on a tourist resort called Marassi in Sidi Abdel Rahman, located along the Mediterranean coast, that includes a hotel with 3,000 rooms, a marina, and a golf course. The project also included the renovation of the well known Al-Alamein Hotel located within the property.

India
Emaar India has a portfolio of projects spanning all key segments of the Indian real estate industry, including residential, commercial, retail (malls) and hospitality. The company has a land bank of some 6,000 acres to be used for future development. Its existing assets and ongoing projects, as also its land banks, are spread across India: Delhi NCR (particularly Gurugram), Mohali, Chennai, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Jaipur and Indore.

Early projects
Emaar entered India in the early 2000s by winning the bid for the Hyderabad International Convention Centre, A joint venture, the Cyberabad Convention Centre Private Limited (CCCPL), was floated specifically for this project, with the other partner being the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC). The convention center, which has a total seating capacity of 4,000 seats (extendable to 6,500 seats) was completed in December 2005.

Joint Venture phase
In 2005, while the Hyderabad project was ongoing, Emaar entered into a joint venture to handle projects in India. Emaar India was founded in 2005 as a joint venture of Emaar Properties PJSC with MGF Developments Limited of India, in which Emaar was by far the larger equity partner and MGF was entrusted the operational responsibilities. The joint venture executed several significant projects, such as the 2010 Commonwealth Games Village in Delhi.

In April 2016, Emaar announced that it would separate from its joint venture partner and that the company would be divided vertically. Shortly after the announcement, Emaar filed the demerger scheme in the Delhi High Court, and Shravan Gupta of MGF resigned from his operational positions. Prashant Gupta is the current CEO of the company.

In pursuance of the intended demerger, the company is presently undergoing a restructuring exercise, wherein Emaar has taken control of all the ongoing projects of the company to ensure their completion at the earliest. The company has committed to deliver 11,000 units by end of 2018, beginning with over 3,000 units in 2017 itself.

Future plans
In late 2021, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the governments of Dubai and Jammu & Kashmir to facilitate investment into certain marquee projects. Under the agreement, Emaar is to develop a shopping mall in Srinagar of 500,000 sq.ft. EMAAR is also considering other investments in hospitality and mixed use commercial and residential projects in Jammu city and in Srinagar city.

Saudi Arabia
The King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), developed by Emaar, The Economic City (Emaar E.C.) is listed on Tadawul, the Saudi stock exchange, and is the largest private investment in Saudi Arabia. The project includes the development of a special economic zone along the Red Sea coast 60 miles north of Jeddah. Emaar E.C. also heads the development of the KAEC port. The port is the first privately owned port for Saudi Arabia and was first opened in January 2014, but plans to further expand have been set in place after the generation of new financing. The KAEC development is projected to be about the same size as Washington, D.C. when completed and the zone is estimated to house approximately 2 million people and assist in aiding the Saudi Arabian economy in expanding beyond oil to light and shipping industry.

Syria
Emaar Properties first announced its plans for a large-scale development project in Syria in 2006. The development, known as The Eighth Gate, includes three zones: a commercial center, waterfront and residential zone, and tourist area. The project is a joint venture between Emaar Properties and IGO, an offshore investment and property development company.

Turkey
The Tuscan Valley development was Emaar's first project in Turkey. Emaar completed the first phase of the Tuscan Valley venture by 2007, which included the development of luxury villas and commercial space just outside Istanbul. In 2012, Emaar began developing an Emaar Square project. The project plans include building Turkey's largest shopping mall and five-star hotels. In 2013, Emaar Turkey, the wholly owned subsidiary of Emaar Properties, launched The Address Residences Emaar Square in Istanbul. In 2017 Emaar Square Mall in Turkey was opened to the public.

Pakistan
The Crescent Bay, Karachi is a 108-acre (440,000 m2) under-construction upscale mixed-use oceanfront development in Defence, Karachi, Pakistan. It is considered one of the biggest projects in Pakistan, with a cost of $2.4 billion. The development features a series of high and mid-rise towers for residential and commercial use, a shopping centre, a five-star beachfront hotel and a tower located in the heart of the project.

The Canyon Views is a project of Emaar in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Iraqi Kurdistan
Downtown Erbil is a project for a large-scale mixed-use complex in Erbil. The project was launched by Emaar Properties in 2013 and covers an area of 541,000 square meters. This area will be used for residential apartments, hotels and a shopping mall.

title: Emaar Properties


text: User talk:64.222.163.19

title: User talk:64.222.163.19


text:
Talk:APE

Multiple file types
This page probably needs a disambiguation, since apparantly there are multiple file types with the APE extension. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Enochlau (talk • contribs).
 * Huh, what do you mean? This already is a disambiguation page. -- intgr 07:56, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

title: Talk:APE


text:
User:Edward/toread

 * John Kenneth Galbraith
 * Mark Cuban
 * The Hamptons
 * Niall Ferguson
 * United States Office of War Information
 * Conventional wisdom
 * Kurdistan
 * James K. Galbraith
 * Gross national happiness
 * Technostructure
 * Mount Ararat
 * Republic of Mahabad
 * Iraqi Kurdistan
 * Hearn Generating Station
 * Jane Jacobs

title: User:Edward/toread


text: Ham e-mail

title: Ham e-mail


text:
Philip Broke

Sir Philip Bowes Vere Broke, 1st Baronet (9 September 1776 – 2 January 1841) was a distinguished officer in the British Royal Navy. During his lifetime, he was often referred to as "Broke of the Shannon", a reference to his notable command of HMS Shannon (1806) in the War of 1812. His most famous military achievement was defeating and capturing the American frigate, USS Chesapeake.

Early life
Broke was born at Broke Hall, Nacton, near Ipswich, the eldest son of Philip Bowes Broke, grandson of Philip Broke and descendant of Sir Richard Broke, who served as Chief Baron of the Exchequer. He was educated at Ipswich School, where a house was later named in his honour.

Naval career
Broke joined the Royal Naval Academy at Portsmouth Dockyard in 1788, and began active service as a midshipman in 1792. It was rather unusual for him to receive formal naval education – most of his contemporaries had only "on the job" training. He served as third lieutenant on the frigate HMS Southampton (1757) during the battle of Cape St. Vincent in February 1797. He was promoted to commander in 1799 and captain on 14 February 1801.

On 25 November 1802, Broke married Sarah Louisa Middleton, daughter of Sir William Fowle Middleton 1st Baronet of Crowfield, Suffolk. They had 11 children, including Philip Broke, 2nd Baronet, George Broke-Middleton, and Charles Acton Broke.

Capture of USS Chesapeake
His most notable accomplishment was his victory while commanding HMS Shannon (1806), over the USS Chesapeake (1799) on 1 June 1813, during the War of 1812. Broke took command of the Shannon, a 38-gun frigate, on 31 August 1806. Broke was ordered to Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1811 as the diplomatic position between America and Britain deteriorated. The United States Congress declared war on 18 June 1812.

There were half a dozen naval battles between Royal Navy and United States Navy frigates in 1812 and the early months 1813. The Americans won every one of those six encounters, which came as a surprise to the Royal Navy. The British and American ships were of the same rate, yet they were not of the same size or power. In each case the American ships were larger than the British vessels, had larger crews and had a heavier broadside. The Americans had a main battery of 24-pounder long guns compared with the smaller 18-pounders mounted on the British ships; the weight refers to the size of the cannonballs.

Matters changed when Shannon met Chesapeake off Boston, Massachusetts in a single ship action. Although Chesapeake was a slightly larger craft and had a substantially larger crew, the armament of the two ships was evenly matched. However, gunnery was Broke's area of expertise, and the crew of Shannon were exceptionally well drilled for the era.

At the time the official rating of a ship did not accurately reflect the number of cannon mounted. Thus HMS Shannon (1065 tons burthen) was classed as a 38 gun ship but mounted 48 guns in total. USS Chesapeake (1135 tons burthen) was variously rated a 36 or 38 gun ship but mounted 49 guns in total. Broke mounted a number of very small carronades in order that ships' boys and younger midshipmen could have cannon light enough for them to practise on. The force of a ship was usually calculated as "weight of metal." This was the aggregate of the weight of all the cannonballs capable of being fired in one broadside (i.e., when half of the cannon, all the guns on the same side, were fired). The British weight of metal was 547 pounds, the American weight of metal was 581 pounds. The two ships were very well matched with no preponderance of force on either side.

Chesapeake was disabled by gunfire, boarded and captured within 15 minutes of opening fire. Fifty-six sailors on Chesapeake were killed and eighty-five wounded including her captain James Lawrence, who died of his wounds on 4 June. Lawrence's last command was reported to be, "Don't give up the ship". On the Shannon, 24 were killed and 59 wounded, including Broke who sustained a serious head wound while leading the boarding party. The head wound from a cutlass blow, which had exposed the brain, had been very severe accompanied by great blood loss. Therapeutic bleeding, routinely employed at the time, was not performed by Shannon's surgeon Mr Alexander Jack, which was to Broke's advantage. The report of the surgeon described the wound as "a deep cut on the parietal bone, extending from the top of the head ... towards the left ear, [the bone] penetrated for at least three inches in length."

Lieutenant Provo Wallis, a Nova Scotian, took command of Shannon as the frigate and her prize returned to Halifax as surgeons worked to save Broke. In Halifax, Broke recovered at the Commissioner's residence in the Halifax Naval Yard.

Shannon's victory created a sensation in both the United States and the United Kingdom, especially in the newspapers of the era. In recognition, Broke was created a baronet on 25 September 1813. He became a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 3 January 1815. He was also awarded a Naval Gold Medal, one of only eight awarded for single ship actions between 1794 and 1816. While his wounds precluded further active service, Broke served as a naval gunnery specialist in the Royal Navy. He was promoted to rear admiral of the red on 22 July 1830.

His younger brother, Charles Broke, later Charles Broke Vere, joined the British Army. Charles served under the Duke of Wellington. He ended as a major general and was knighted.

Sir Philip Broke Bt. died on 2 January 1841 and is buried in Nacton in Suffolk with a monument sculpted by Thomas Denman.

title: Philip Broke


text:
Victoria Centre

The Victoria Centre is a shopping centre and social housing complex in Nottingham, England, constructed by Taylor Woodrow between 1967 and 1972. It contains fashion and high street chain stores as well as cafes, restaurants, an indoor market, and the Nottingham Victoria bus station.

History
The Victoria Centre stands on the site of the old Nottingham Victoria railway station, which was demolished in 1967. The clock tower and the former Victoria Station Hotel (now run by Hilton Hotels) were the only parts of the old station to be retained. The complex was designed by Leslie Martin and constructed between 1967 and 1972 by Taylor Woodrow. The ground and first floor of the complex hold the Victoria Centre shopping centre, which is managed by Savills. The building itself is owned by a limited partnership between Shaftesbury Capital, Corporation Service Company, Global Mutual, and Nottingham City Council. The complex remains the tallest building in Nottingham, with the 26 floor, 256 ft high Victoria Centre Flats, which run north–south along their length in a number of blocks of different heights. There are 464 flats and 36000 sqft of office space.

In 1970, the kinetic sculptor Rowland Emett was commissioned to design and build a "water-powered" clock known as The Aqua Horological Tintinnabulator. The clock was installed in late 1972 and chimed on the hour and half-hour, playing "Gigue en Rondeau II" (1724) from Rameau's "Pieces de Clavecin" Suite in E minor. This musical animated sculpture was originally located on the lower mall and was a popular meeting place. The clock was later modified to chime and play the music every fifteen minutes. In February 2014, the clock was dismantled and refurbished by engineer Pete Dexter and the Rowland Emett Society. It was reassembled for exhibition in Millennium Point, Birmingham, during the summer of 2014 before being dismantled again and stored until December 2014. The parts were then transported back to Nottingham, where Dexter and Intu Victoria Centre staff carried out further refurbishment work. It was reassembled in its new location, at the north end of the upper mall. Its stature, colour scheme, and most of its original water features were restored. It was officially restarted on 17 June 2015.

In 1997, the centre was extended to provide more retail space and allow the addition of a new anchor, House of Fraser. The rest of the centre was refurbished.

In 2010, it was announced that the Victoria Centre would be expanded to compete with Westfield's nearby Broadmarsh Centre and new centres in Derby and Leicester. In November 2011, Capital Shopping Centres purchased the Broadmarsh Centre. The purchase prompted an investigation by the Office of Fair Trading and the Competition Commission, which was concerned the company's monopoly over the city's shopping centres could negatively impact competition. Following the purchase, the owners wished to begin the planned development of the Victoria Centre, but Nottingham City Council insisted that Broadmarsh must be their "priority" and offered £50 million towards its redevelopment. The deputy leader of Nottingham City Council said the council would withhold planning permission for the development of the Victoria Centre until they "see bulldozers going into the Broadmarsh Centre".

In February 2013, the parent company, Capital Shopping Centres, changed its name to Intu. The centre was rebranded Intu Victoria Centre as part of the company's £25m nationwide rebrand.

In 2013, plans were revealed for the centre to be refurbished. The refurbishment began in February 2014 and was completed in summer 2015. It was undertaken by Laing O'Rourke and features a new restaurant quarter in the clock tower area and new lighting, flooring, entrances, and toilet facilities. This is the second refurbishment of the centre since the last major refurbishment in 1997. There are plans for an extension to the centre to increase floor space, but these will not be considered until plans for Intu Broadmarsh have been submitted.

Following Intu Properties plc entering administration in June 2020, a subsidiary of the company called Intu SGS received funding to take full control of the centre along with Lakeside, Braehead and Intu Watford. The transfer involved Global Mutual becoming asset manager of the centres and Savills serving as property manager. In November 2020, the centre's name reverted from intu Victoria Centre back to Victoria Centre.

Victoria Centre Market
On the first floor, opposite John Lewis, is Nottingham's largest indoor market, the Victoria Centre Market. It sells a range of goods, including fresh food, meat, and fish. There are also speciality stalls selling items such as books, jewellery, and haberdashery. The market is open from Monday to Saturday from 9:00 to 5:00 p.m.

In 2008 it won the award for the Greenest Market in the Midlands from the National Market Traders Federation.

title: Victoria Centre


text:
Monaco national football team

The Monaco national football team is a national side that represents Monaco in association football. The team is controlled by the Monégasque Football Federation, the governing body for all football in Monaco. Monaco is not a member of FIFA or UEFA, and therefore cannot enter the FIFA World Cup nor the UEFA European Championship. Monaco was a founding member of the N.F.-Board in 2003, and finished second in the 2006 VIVA World Cup inaugural edition. However, due to political opposition, Monaco severed ties with the organization in 2010.

Beginnings
After the foundation of the Monégasque Football Federation in April 2000, Monaco played its first match in June of the same year against Gibraltar, losing 5–0. After this match, Monaco would return to play a match a year later against Tibet, in Freiburg, in Germany, winning 2–1.

Overview
Since 2001, Monaco has participated in twenty-seven games, winning eight, drawing six, and losing thirteen. The team competes against local clubs, nations, unrecognized states, people groups, and territories. Monaco is managed by Martino López, and competes at the Stade Didier Deschamps in Cap-d'Ail, France. According to Elo Ratings, Monaco is ranked 200th in the world as of November 2020.

The team's roster is composed of roughly sixty men; only five offer professional experience, since the team is mainly made up of civil servants and employees of the Société des bains de mer de Monaco.

Head-to-head record
 As of 27 April 2017

Honours
VIVA World Cup runner-up: 2006

Historical kits
Sources:

title: Monaco national football team


text:
Robert Lincoln Poston

Robert T. Lincoln Poston (February 25, 1891 – March 16, 1924) was an African-American newspaper editor and journalist, who was an activist in Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). He died at sea as he returned from a UNIA mission to Liberia.

Biography
Poston was born in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. He came from a family of journalists and writers. His father, Ephraim Poston, was a teacher, poet and graduate of Roger Williams University in Nashville, Tennessee, who authored Manual on Parliamentary Proceedings, 1905, and Pastoral Poems, 1906. Poston's mother was the former Mollie Cox of Oak Grove, Kentucky. Poston had six siblings: Fred Douglass, Ulysses Grant, Ephraim, Jr., Roberta, Lillian, and Theodore Roosevelt Poston.

Poston attended Nashville's Walden University, as well as Howard University. He became a newspaper publisher and editor while in Detroit, Michigan. Later, he contributed poems, literary criticism, and sometimes editorials to the UNIA-ACL's Negro World newspaper. He attained the position of Assistant Secretary-General of the UNIA in 1921 and then was promoted to Secretary General in 1922. His brother Ulysses served as associate editor of the Negro World. Robert and Ulysses were among the co-directors of a play the UNIA dramatic club put on in 1922, entitled "Tallaboo".

Personal life
Poston married the sculptor Augusta Savage in 1923.

Death
In December of 1923, he was the leader of a delegation sent to Liberia by the UNIA. The purpose of the trip was to finalize arrangements for a mass emigration of African Americans to Liberia. He was accompanied on this trip by Henrietta Vinton Davis and Milton Van Lowe, among others. Poston and the others met with President King of Liberia, but they were not ultimately able to obtain the permissions and aid that they required. Poston could not hide his disappointment on the voyage home. While on board the SS President Grant, he contracted a fever and died of lobar pneumonia.

Legacy
On March 19, 1924, Poston was posthumously given the rank of Prince of Africa by the UNIA during an elaborate state funeral at Liberty Hall.

title: Robert Lincoln Poston


text:
Neu Wien

 Neu Wien  (New Vienna), opus 342, is a waltz written by Johann Strauss II in 1870 and dedicated to Nicolaus Dumba (1830-1900), who was a fervent patron of Arts and was the Chairman of the Wiener Männergesang-Verein (Vienna's Men Choral Association) and Vice-President of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien (Society of Friends of Music in Vienna).

New Vienna was written in the form of a choral waltz at the request of the Choral Association and was first performed at the Fasching of 1870 for the Association's 'Narrenabend' (Fool's Evening) where Strauss had similarly dedicated his waltz Wein, Weib und Gesang op. 333 for the same festivity. Strauss himself did not perform the choral work at its première on 13 February 1870 because of a commitment to the Prince Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst to provide music for the latter's ball on exactly the same day as the Association's 'Narrenabend'. The new work was therefore entrusted to the musicians of the 49th (Baron Hess) Infantry Regiment under the direction of Eduard Kremser to provide its premiere.

Although the waltz was intended as a choral work with text by the Association's poet and good friend of Strauss Josef Weyl, today, the work is more familiar being a purely orchestral work as is the other Strauss waltzes which began life as a choral work such as The Blue Danube waltz. Weyl's text refers to the expansion of Vienna in 1870 where various old suburbs are incorporated as well.

The waltz also chronicled a sad chapter in the Strauss dynasty with the death of mother Anna Strauss after a long illness on 23 February 1870. Strauss and his brothers temporarily withdrew from the musical life before reappearing on 13 March of the same year at the Musikverein's Golden Hall with the Strauss Orchestra for the 'Carnival Revue'. Johann Strauss' new waltz in purely orchestral form met with generous applause when performed on that occasion and has since retained its popularity. Nicolaus Dumba himself remained proud of his dedication for the rest of his life and survived long enough to actually witness themes from the waltz incorporated into the operetta Wiener Blut five months after Strauss' death in 1899.

title: Neu Wien


text:
Tai Wai

Tai Wai is an area in the New Territories, Hong Kong, located between Sha Tin and the Lion Rock, within the Sha Tin District.

With three rapid transit stations, one of which an interchange station serving two lines, five bus termini and several trunk roads and tunnels connecting it to other parts of the New Territories, such as Tsuen Wan, and Kowloon, Tai Wai is an important transport node in Hong Kong.

Geography
Tai Wai occupies the southwestern end of the Sha Tin Valley. The Sha Tin area is located directly northeast of Tai Wai. Hill ranges separate Tai Wai from New Kowloon in the south, and from Tsuen Wan in the west. The Tai Wai Nullah, sometimes referred to as the upper stream of Shing Mun River, flows through Tai Wai, where it joins the Shing Mun River. The Shing Mun River then flows in a southwest–northeast direction across the Sha Tin Valley towards Tolo Harbour.

History
Sprouting from traditional farming villages growing rice, vegetables and fruits, such as choy sum, Chinese broccoli, bamboo, banana, peach, and lychee, Tai Wai area once functioned as a light suburban industrial park in the 1970s. Few factory buildings are still in use, mostly as warehouses. The current urbanization of the area is the consequence of the development of Sha Tin New Town that started in the 1970s.

Tai Wai Village, where the name of the area came from, was the largest and oldest walled village in Sha Tin. It was built in 1574 during the Ming dynasty, and was called Chik Chuen Wai at the time. It was originally made up of 16 families, Wai, Chan , Ng , Yeung , Wong , Lee , Hui , Cheng , Tong , Yuen , Yau , Lam , Lok , Tam , Mok and Choy.

The Wai family, being the largest family, is thought to be the direct descendants of the famous founder general of the Han dynasty, Han Xin, who purportedly fled there to escape executions ordered by Emperor Gao of Han's empress Empress Lü Zhi. The Han descendants changed their surname into Wai by splitting the word Han in two halves and took up the character on the right hand side, Wai (韋).

The Cheng family, on the other hand, originated from a place called Xingyang in Zhengzhou, Henan which is the place where Chang'e supposedly flew to the Moon. It is also the birthplace of Li Shangyin, one of the most famous poets in the late Tang dynasty.

Tai Wai appears on the "Map of the San-On District", published in 1866 by Simeone Volonteri.

The first public housing estate built in the area was Mei Lam Estate, with the first two blocks of its Phase 1 completed in 1981. Tai Wai station opened in August 1983.

Electoral constituencies
Tai Wai in Sha Tin District, as defined at the time of the 2015 Hong Kong District Council elections. They are: Chun Fung (, R10), Sun Tin Wai (, R11), Chui Tin (, R12), Hin Ka (, R13), Lower Shing Mun (, R14), Wan Shing (, R15), Keng Hau (, R16), Tin Sum (, R17), Chui Ka (, R18), Tai Wai (, R19), Chung Tin (, R20).

Demographics
Tai Wai is composed largely of low to medium income households of different ethnic backgrounds ranging from local Chinese to Westerners. According to the 2016 Population By-census, the number of persons living in Tai Wai was as follows:

Housing
A large part of the population of Tai Wai lives in public housing estates. Privately owned apartment blocks are also common and higher income luxury housing is also available in various parts of Tai Wai. Hundreds of three-storey village houses (some western styled, others more traditional) can be found in the villages of the area.

Public housing

The table below lists all the public housing estates in Tai Wai, including Public Rental Housing (Public), Home Ownership Scheme (HOS), Tenants Purchase Scheme (TPS) and Private Sector Participation Scheme (PSPS).

Festival City
Festival City is a HK$20 billion residential development project by Cheung Kong and MTR Corporation located above the Tai Wai (Station) Maintenance Centre. Phase I was completed in September 2010, Phase II in October 2011, and Phase III in August 2012. The plan was to build 12 50-stories high residential towers with a total construction area of 313,955 square meters as well as 25,890 square meters for the general public's use. It offers 4,264 flats to families, two schools and one community facility. This residential project raised the population of Tai Wai significantly. The controversy of this project is that the 12 towers would create an urban heat island effect and block off the air flow of the area.

Other estates
Other private housing estates in Tai Wai include:

 * Glamour Garden
 * Golden Lion Gardens (金獅花園)
 * Grandeur Garden
 * Granville Garden (恆峰花園)
 * Greenview Garden
 * Julimount Garden
 * Lakeview Garden
 * Man Lai Court
 * Parc Royale
 * Park View Garden
 * Peak One (壹號雲頂)
 * Pristine Villa
 * Sha Tin Heights
 * The Great Hill (嘉御山)
 * The Met. Acappella
 * The Pavilia Farm (柏傲莊)
 * Worldwide Gardens

Villages
A number of villages exist in Tai Wai and most of them are surrounded by the towers of housing estates. Traditional village layout and some historic buildings can still be found.

 * Tai Wai Village, aka. Chik Chuen Wai (22.37567°N, 114.17863°W). It is located next to Tai Wai station and the main commercial streets of the area. The village was walled to protect the villagers from bandits, pirates and/or unfriendly neighbours. It was rectangular in shape with 4 watch towers at its four corners. The towers and the walls have long been demolished leaving only the entrance gate and part of the front wall. The houses inside the walls are in rows, and many houses have been built outside the walls due to later development. Historic and traditional buildings include the Entrance Gate, a Hau Wong Temple, the Wai Ancestral Hall and several old houses.
 * Tai Wai New Village (22.37538°N, 114.17418°W) is located on a slope alongside Tai Po Road, just minutes walk away from the old village. It was established in the 1980s as the then colonial government's effort to compensate the villagers for effectively confiscating their land for development. Each male villager was given a piece of land at a premium of HK$20,000 of which he has the right to build a Spanish-styled 700 sq.ft. three-story house to live in. Most of these houses are now rented by outsiders for the relatively tranquil countryside surroundings. The land occupied by the village was once cultivated for pineapples.

Ha Keng Hau, Sheung Keng Hau and Hin Tin are three adjacent villages located along Hin Keng Street, along a northeast–southwest direction. Hin Keng Estate, located northeast of the villages and across Hin Keng Street, was named after them.
 * Ha Keng Hau (22.365°N, 114.17611°W) is located east of Hin Keng Estate and west of Lung Hang Estate. It was established by the Law  and the Mak  during the 18th century. The Mak who settled there had branched out of Pan Chung  in Tai Po.
 * Sheung Keng Hau (22.36407°N, 114.17444°W) is located southeast of Hin Keng Estate. It is a single-surname village, Wai, with a history of over 300 years. The Wai Ancestral Hall was rebuilt in 1930.
 * Hin Tin (22.36239°N, 114.17248°W) is located south of the main part of Hin Keng Estate. The village was erected with government funding in the 1920s to resettle three clans of villagers from Shek Lei Pui Valley, to make way for the construction of the Shek Lei Pui Reservoir, completed in 1925. Some 80 people lived in 26 houses in the former Shek Lei Pui Village. The Yeung , the Law  and the So  were Hakkas from Nantou who had settled in the Valley for some 300 years. Another clan in the Valley, the Lau , moved to Kwai Chung instead of Hin Tin at the resettlement. The ancestral halls of the three clans were built in Hin Tin, connected together to form a single block on the front row of the original three rows of houses. They have been listed as Grade III historic buildings since 2010. In 1982, the Housing Department demolished 600 structures at Hin Tin and relocated 167 families.

Villages in the vicinity of Che Kung Temple:
 * Kak Tin (22.36758°N, 114.18339°W) is located south of Sun Chui Estate and Sun Tin Wai Estate. It was one of the five Punti villages in Sha Tin founded about 400 years ago by Tsang  clanspeople, originally from Shandong. The villagers were historically farmers engaged in rice and vegetable growing supported by pig and poultry rearing. The village had a population of 130 in 1899 and 220 in 1960. About 80 households of the Tsangs are still residing in the village. Most of the village houses have been demolished and replaced by modern small houses.
 * Hung Mui Kuk Village (22.36582°N, 114.18164°W)
 * San Tin Village (not to be confused with San Tin within Yuen Long District), (22.37182°N, 114.18282°W) is located south of Che Kung Temple and east of Sun Chui Estate. It was historically a single-clan village of the Lau, and it now features the Lau Ancestral Hall . The Lau were Hakkas who first moved from Huizhou to Grassy Hill, northwest of Sha Tin, during the 18th century. They were farmers engaged in cultivation. As their population increased, they bought a piece of land from the Kak Tin and Tin Sam villages and established a new village called 'San Tin' (lit. "new field") in the late 1890s.
 * Lei Uk Tsuen (22.37373°N, 114.18492°W) is located east of Che Kung Temple and west of Chun Shek Estate. It was established by the Lei clan in the late 17th century.
 * Sha Tin Tau (22.37323°N, 114.18923°W) is located east of Chun Shek Estate, north of Fung Shing Court and south of Tsang Tai Uk. Historically the only Hakka multi-surname village in the Sha Tin area, it was first settled by the Chan  and later by the Law, the Lam , the Yip , the Lau  and others. There are several ancestral halls in the village, including the Lau Ancestral Hall , that was built before 1900. The founding ancestor of the Lau clan of Sha Tin Tau village moved from Longchuan in the mid-19th century. The clan has lived there for nine generations by the early 21st century.
 * Sha Tin Tau New Village (22.36868°N, 114.18959°W)

Other villages in Tai Wai include:
 * Heung Fan Liu New Village (22.3771°N, 114.16813°W) is located near the Tai Wai Nullah, north of Mei Tin Estate and east of the Lower Shing Mun Reservoir.
 * Luk Hop Village (22.3638°N, 114.16429°W) is located on the hill along Tai Po Road and on top of Sha Tin Heights Tunnel.
 * Fuk Lok Village (22.38721°N, 114.16803°W) is located on the hill, north of Heung Fan Liu New Village and Pak Tin.
 * Pak Tin (22.38436°N, 114.17089°W) is located west of Mei Chung Court. At the time of the 1911 census, the population of Pak Tin was 3.
 * Tin Sam Village (22.36981°N, 114.17817°W) is located west of Sun Chui Estate, north of Lung Hang Estate, and southeast of Festival City. It was a Punti walled village, historically inhabited by the Choi, the Wai , the Leung , the Tsang  and the Liu . A moat was built for its protection, and was later filled up and used as a fish pond. Historic buildings in the village include the Choi Ancestral Hall, the Leung Ancestral Halls, the Liu Ancestral Hall, and the Entrance Gate, built during the Qing dynasty. The Che Kung Temple in Tai Wai was originally built and managed by the Tin Sam Village, but the village lost its managerial rights in the late 19th century.
 * Tung Lo Wan (22.37837°N, 114.18104°W) is located east of Mei Lam Estate, across the Tai Wai Nullah. It was historically a Hakka village occupied by families of different surnames, the Yau  being the majority. The first generation of the Tse clan who settled in the village moved to Tung Lo Wan in the early 20th century. The Tse Ancestral Hall, also called Tse Po Shu Tong , was built before 1910. It is the only ancestral hall in the village. The Li Cottage , located nearby, at the corner of Tung Lo Wan Hill Road and Chung Ling Road, was built around 1918. It is connected by a path to the Li Tomb  uphill.
 * Yau Oi Tsuen (22.38615°N, 114.17741°W), located west of Tao Fung Shan.

Retail
Several public housing estates have a shopping centre. The only private shopping centre was Grandeur Shopping Arcade, located within Grandeur Garden, along Tai Wai Road , until The Wai shopping mall opened in 2023.

The Wai opened on July 22, 2023. Located on top of Tai Wai Station and below the Pavilia Farm residential complex, the shopping mall covers an area 650,000sq ft across four floors. At the time of its opening, The Wai housed the largest of the then 43 Market Place supermarkets in Hong Kong, covering an area over 20,000sq ft.

Sports venues
Sports venues in Tai Wai include:

Sports centres
There are three indoor public sport centres in Tai Wai: Che Kung Temple Sports Centre (opened in 2020), Hin Keng Sports Centre (opened in 1988) and Mei Lam Sports Centre (opened in 1986). They are located in or next to major estates, namely Chun Shek Estate, Hin Keng Estate and Mei Lam Estate. They offer a wide range of facilities including a fitness centre with weight training and cardiovascular equipment, squash courts as well as badminton courts. These sport centres are owned and operated by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department; however, the facilities are charged prior to booking with several exceptions.

Swimming pool
Hin Tin Swimming Pool (顯田游泳池) is the only public swimming pool in Tai Wai. Opened in 1992, it is operated by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. It is located along Che Kung Miu Road, between Tai Wai station and Hin Keng station.

Cycling
The Tai Wai Cycling Park, where beginners could practice their cycling skills, was demolished in 2001 to make way for the railway terminus of the Ma On Shan Line. A number of bicycle rental shops can be found in Tai Wai and bicycle lanes run along the Shing Mun River and link Tai Wai to Tai Po, Ma On Shan and Plover Cove Reservoir.

Hiking
Hiking is also a popular activity in Tai Wai. Situated at the end of a valley, Tai Wai is surrounded by country parks: Shing Mun (north), Kam Shan (west), Lion Rock (south) and Ma On Shan (southeast). Sections of the Wilson Trail and the MacLehose Trail run across the hills near Tai Wai.

Food
Some sources mention Tai Wai as being famous for its chicken porridges and roast baby pigeon.

Schools
Tai Wai is in Primary One Admission (POA) School Net 88. Within the school net are multiple aided schools (operated independently but funded with government money) and Shatin Government Primary School (沙田官立小學).

Tai Wai has multiple primary and secondary schools, mostly public, some with religious background. They include:

 * Buddhist Wong Wan Tin College
 * Carmel Alison Lam Primary School
 * Cheng Wing Gee College
 * Christian Alliance Cheng Wing Gee College
 * Free Methodist Bradbury Chun Lei Primary School
 * Free Methodist Mei Lam Primary School
 * Helen Liang Memorial Secondary School (Shatin)
 * Immaculate Heart of Mary School
 * Lau Pak Lok Secondary School
 * Lock Tao Secondary School
 * Ng Yuk Secondary School
 * Po Leung Kuk Dr. Jimmy Wong Chi-ho (Tin Sum Valley) Primary School
 * Pui Kiu College
 * Sha Tin Government Secondary School
 * Shatin Public Mei Lin Primary School
 * Shatin Public School
 * Shatin Tsung Tsin Secondary School
 * Sir Chu Wan Primary School
 * Sung Lan Middle School
 * T.W.G.H's Lam Shiu Primary School

Temples

 * Che Kung Temple: Hundreds of thousands flock to the Taoist Che Kung Temple on the second day of each Chinese New Year to worship Che Kung - a general of the Song dynasty, and queue up to turn the wheel which symbolizes both the cosmic movement in the turning of the year and the hope of each wheel spinner for a good turn of fortune in the forthcoming year.
 * Chi Hong Ching Yuen, also Tze Hong Monastery . Located next to Che Kung Temple. It is a Buddhist nunnery established in the early 20th century.
 * Koon Ngam Ching Yuen, also Ku Ngam Ching Yuen or Ku Au Tseng Yuen or "Wat Tai Wai" near Lei Uk Tsuen. It is a Chinese Thai temple established in the early 1990s.
 * A Hau Wong Temple is located within Tai Wai walled village. Originally sited outside the walled village, it was moved inside during the reign of Xianfeng (1850–1861). The current temple has replaced an earlier temple, probably built in 1884 and demolished in 1982.
 * Puguangming Temple, near Pak Tin Village and directly north of Mei Chung Court. Contains a controversial private columbarium.
 * Shun Shin Chee Kit Yin Koon, near Pak Tin Village and directly west of Mei Chung Court. It also houses a private colombarium.

Christian institutions

 * Tao Fung Shan:
 * Tao Fong Shan Christian Centre
 * Tao Fong Shan Christ Temple
 * Lutheran Theological Seminary
 * ELCHK Living Spirit Lutheran Church
 * ELCHK Salvation Lutheran Church
 * High Rock Centre . Built in 1924 as Shatin Police Station, it became High Rock Christian Camp in 1980.
 * St. Alfred's Church
 * Shatin Assembly of God Church

Other structures and facilities
Other historic or otherwise notable buildings and structures in Tai Wai include:
 * Former Kowloon-Canton Railway (KCR) Beacon Hill Tunnel . Completed in 1910, now disused as a rail transport tunnel.
 * Fu Shan Public Mortuary (富山公眾殮房)
 * Hong Kong Heritage Museum, located at the border between Tai Wai and Sha Tin
 * Lower Shing Mun Reservoir
 * Po Fook Memorial Hall (寶福紀念館)
 * Tai Wai Bunker Complex, a former military structure along Gin Drinkers Line, located at the foothill of Tai Wai.
 * Tai Wai industrial area has an area of about 4.70 ha and included 8 industrial buildings in 2005.
 * Tai Wai Maintenance Centre, a maintenance depot of the MTR, supporting the Tuen Ma line
 * Union Hospital (Hong Kong)
 * Wai Bun Castle (博雅山莊 or )

MTR
Tai Wai station is on the East Rail line and the Tuen Ma line of the MTR. The northward termini of the East Rail line, Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau stations, located at the border with Shenzhen, are about 30 minutes away. The station was opened in 1983 and its expansion for the Ma On Shan line was completed in September 2004.

Che Kung Temple station of the Tuen Ma line is also located in the Tai Wai area. It opened in 2004.

In 2002, KCRC won the bid to plan, build and operate the Sha Tin to Central Link, and in 2004 it submitted the Draft Final Proposal to the Government. The March 2008 MTR-KCR revised proposal includes the extension of East Rail line across Victoria Harbour to Hong Kong Island and the extension of Ma On Shan line to West Rail line via East Kowloon. The Tai Wai to Hung Hom section was fully completed in 2021 and the Cross Harbour section was completed in 2022. As part of this project, a new station was built in the Tai Wai area, Hin Keng station, which opened in February 2020.

Road connections
Tai Wai is the main gateway of tunnels and roads connecting the New Territories to Kowloon as well as Tsuen Wan due to its convenient location. In the early 20th century and until the Lion Rock Tunnel, the first road tunnel in Hong Kong, was built in 1967, Tai Po Road was the main road connecting Tai Wai and the New Territories to Kowloon. Tai Po Road to this day remains as the only toll-free road connecting the two areas.

The tunnels are: Lion Rock Tunnel (1967), Shing Mun Tunnels (1990) and Sha Tin Heights Tunnel (2008). Sha Tin Heights Tunnel opened in March 2008 to lessen the traffic of the Kowloon Tunnels and Tai Po Road. It is part of Route 8 that connects Tai Wai to the airport over the Stonecutters Bridge and through the Nam Wan Tunnel.

Bus
A large percentage of the bus routes that go past Tai Wai are circular routes which both start and terminate in Sha Tin. There are also long-distance routes that go past famous Hong Kong landmarks and attractions. They include 170, which goes to Ocean Park; E42 goes to the airport (via Tung Chung) and R42 to Disneyland.

There are 5 major bus termini in Tai Wai:
 * Mei Lam
 * Mei Tin
 * Sun Chui
 * Hin Keng
 * Tai Wai Station

Minibus
Many green minibus (GMB) routes that pass Tai Wai go around all parts of Sha Tin to provide feeder services for major public transport operators such as the MTR. Routes such as 481B go to the Tsuen Wan area via Shing Mun Tunnel offering a fast but cheap alternative to buses and the MTR. Residents' buses also operate at Tai Wai station. Union Hospital's free shuttle bus also operates from there at 10-minute frequencies.

title: Tai Wai


text:
Language policy in France

France has one official language, the French language. The French government does not regulate the choice of language in publications by individuals, but the use of French is required by law in commercial and workplace communications. In addition to mandating the use of French in the territory of the Republic, the French government tries to promote French in the European Union and globally through institutions such as La Francophonie. The perceived threat from Anglicisation has prompted efforts to safeguard the position of the French language in France.

Besides French, there exist many other vernacular minority languages of France, both in European France, in Overseas France, and in French overseas territories. These languages are recognized by article 75-1 of the French constitution. The 1999 report written for the French government by Bernard Cerquiglini identified 75 languages (including just eight in continental France proper) that would qualify for recognition were the government to ratify the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (currently signed but not ratified).

History
The Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts of 1539 made French the administrative language of the kingdom of France for legal documents and laws. Previously, official documents were written in medieval Latin, which was the language used by the Roman Catholic Church.

Académie française
The Académie française was established in 1635 to act as the official authority on the usages, vocabulary, and grammar of the French language, and to publish an official dictionary of the French language. Its recommendations however carry no legal power and are sometimes disregarded even by governmental authorities. In recent years the Académie has tried to prevent the Anglicisation of the French language.

French Revolution
Prior to the French Revolution of 1789, French kings did not take a strong position on the language spoken by their subjects. However, in sweeping away the old provinces, parlements and laws, the Revolution strengthened the unified system of administration across the state. At first, the revolutionaries declared liberty of language for all citizens of the Republic; this policy was subsequently abandoned in favour of the imposition of a common language which was to do away with the other languages of France. Other languages were seen as keeping the peasant masses in obscurantism.

The new idea was expounded in the 1794 Report on the necessity and means to annihilate the patois and to universalise the use of the French language. Its author, Henri Grégoire, deplored that France, the most advanced country in the world with regard to politics, had not progressed beyond the Tower of Babel as far as languages were concerned, and that only three million of the 25 million inhabitants of France spoke a pure Parisian French as their native tongue. The lack of ability of the population to understand the language in which were the political debates and the administrative documents was then seen as antidemocratic.

The report resulted the same year in two laws which stated that the only language tolerated in France in public life and in schools would be French. Within two years, the French language had become the symbol of the national unity of the French State. However, the revolutionaries lacked both time and money to implement a language policy.

Third Republic
In the 1880s, the Third Republic sought to modernize France, and in particular to increase literacy and general knowledge in the population, especially the rural population, and established free compulsory primary education.

The only language allowed in primary school was French. All other languages were forbidden, even in the schoolyard, and transgressions were severely punished. After 1918, the use of German in Alsace-Lorraine was outlawed. In 1925, Anatole de Monzie, Minister of public education, stated that "for the linguistic unity of France, the Breton language must disappear." As a result, the speakers of minority languages began to be ashamed when using their own language – especially in the educational system – and over time, many families stopped teaching their language to their children and tried to speak only French with them. In neighbouring Belgium, a parallel policy to expand the use of standard French also took place.

Fourth Republic
The 1950s were also the first time the French state recognised the right of the regional languages to exist. A law allowed for the teaching of regional languages in secondary schools, and the policy of repression in the primary schools came to an end. The Breton language began to appear in the media during this time.

Fifth Republic
The French government allowed in 1964 for the first time one and a half minutes of Breton on regional television. But even in 1972, president Georges Pompidou declared that "there is no place for minority languages in a France destined to make its mark on Europe."

In 1992 the constitution was amended to state explicitly that "the language of the Republic is French."

The Toubon Law (full name: law 94-665 of 4 August 1994 relating to usage of the French language) mandated the use of the French language in official government publications, in all advertisements, in all workplaces, in commercial contracts, in some other commercial communication contexts, in all government-financed schools, and some other contexts.

The law does not concern private, non-commercial communications, such as non-commercial web publications by private bodies. It does not concern books, films, public speeches, and other forms of communications not constituting commercial activity. However, the law mandates the use of the French language in all broadcast audiovisual programs, with exceptions for musical works and "original version" films.

Broadcast musical works are subject to quota rules under a related law whereby a minimum percentage of the songs on radio and television must be in the French language. A minimum of four in ten songs broadcast by domestic radio stations must be in the French language.

In 2006, under this law, a French subsidiary of a US company was fined €500,000 plus an ongoing fine of €20,000 per day for providing software and related technical documentation to its employees in English only.

In 2008, a revision of the French constitution creating official recognition of regional languages was implemented by the Parliament in Congress at Versailles.

In 2021, a law on regional languages was adopted by the parliament. However, its articles on immersion education in public schools and on use of regional languages' diacritics in civil records were vetoed by the Constitutional Council.

The debate about the Council of Europe's Charter for Regional or Minority Languages
In 1999 the Socialist government of Lionel Jospin signed the Council of Europe's European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, but it was not ratified. The Constitutional Council of France declared that the Charter contains unconstitutional provisions since the Constitution states that the language of the Republic is French.

The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages is a European convention (ETS 148) adopted in 1992 under the auspices of the Council of Europe to protect and promote historical regional and minority languages in Europe, ratified and implemented by 25 States, but not by France,. The charter contains 98 articles of which signatories must adopt a minimum of 35 (France signed 39). The signing, and the failure to have it ratified, provoked a public debate in French society over the charter.

More recently, in a letter to several deputies dated 4 June 2015, François Hollande announced the upcoming filing of a constitutional bill for the ratification of the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages. On 30 July 2015, the Council of State gave an unfavorable opinion on the charter. On 27 October 2015, the Senate rejected the draft law on ratification of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages driving away the assumption of Congress for the adoption of the constitutional reform which would have given the value and legitimacy to regional languages.

Minority and endangered languages
Excluding the languages spoken in the overseas regions and other overseas territories, and the languages of recent immigrants, the following languages are spoken by sizeable minorities in France:

Celtic languages
Breton (Gwenedeg/Vannetais, Gwennraneg, Kerneveg, Leoneg, and Tregerieg)

Francosign languages
French Sign Language (LSF)

Germanic languages
Alsatian, Dutch (West Flemish/French Flemish), Lorrainian, Luxembourgish, and Yenish

Isolate languages
Basque/Euskara and Lyons Sign Language

Romance languages

 * Gallo-Italic languages: Ligurian
 * Gallo-Romance languages
 * Langues d'oïl: Angevin, Berrichon, Burgundian, Champenois, Frainc-Comtou, Gallo, Lorrain, Manceau, Mayennais, Normaund, Picard, Poetevin, Saintonjhais, and Walloon
 * Occitano-Romance languages: Auvergnat, Catalan, Gascon (Béarnese and Landese), Langadocian, Limousin, Niçard, Occitan, Provençal, and Vivaroalpenc
 * Arpitan languages: Burgondan, Dauphinois Nord/Isérois, Forézien, Franco-Provençal, Jurassien, Lyonnais (Bressan), Mâconnais, and Savoyard
 * Ibero-Romance languages: Portuguese and Spanish (Castilian)
 * Italo-Dalmatian languages: Corsican and Italian

Romani languages
Auvergnat Romani, Caló, and Sintikès

The non-French Oïl languages and Franco-Provençal are highly endangered; because of their similarity to standard French, their speakers conformed first in phonology, and then orthography much more readily. The other languages are still spoken but are all considered endangered.

In the 1940s, more than one million people spoke Breton as their main language. The countryside in western Brittany was still overwhelmingly Breton-speaking. Today, about 170,000 people are able to speak Breton (around 8% of the population in the traditionally Breton speaking area), most of whom are elderly. Other regional languages have generally followed the same pattern; Alsatian and Corsican have resisted better, while Occitan has followed an even worse trend.

Accurate information on the state of language use is complicated by the inability (due to constitutional provisions) of the state to ask language use questions in the census.

Since the rejection of ratification of the European Charter, French governments have offered token support to regional languages within the limits of the law. The Délégation générale à la langue française (General delegation of the French tongue) has acquired the additional function of observing and studying the languages of France and has had "et aux langues de France" (...and languages of France) added to its title.

The French government hosted the first Assises nationales des langues de France in 2003, but this national round table on the languages of France served to highlight the contrast between cultural organisations and language activists on the one hand and the state on the other.

The decentralization has not extended to giving power in language policy to the regions.

In April 2021, France approved the "Molac" law (8 April 2021) which aims to protect and promote regional languages across the country. The law allows for schools to offer teaching in the medium of a regional minority language for the majority of the school day. However, the French Minister of Education, opposed to the teaching in minority languages, asked the Conseil Constitutionnel to declare it unconstitutional. This led to certain provisions of the law being constitutionally struck down on 21 May 2021.

Opposition to language policy
According to French republican ideology (see also Laïcité), all citizens are ultimately Frenchmen and therefore no minority groups (i.e. ethnolinguistic groups) may exercise extra rights; this is an idea stemming from the French Revolution, contrasting with the previous situation in which many distinguishable groups had special rights and privileges in their regions.

This policy of cultural homogeneity has been challenged from both the right wing and the left wing. In the 1970s, nationalist or regionalist movements emerged in regions such as Brittany, Corsica and Occitania. Even though they remain a minority, networks of schools teaching France's regional languages have arisen, such as the Diwan in Brittany, the Ikastola in the Basque Country, the Calandreta in Occitania, and the La Bressola schools in Northern Catalonia.

Despite popular demand for official recognition, regional language teaching is not supported by the state. However, in certain areas, such as Brittany, regional councils maintain bilingual public schools as far as it is within the law. Other Breton education is provided by Catholic schools and private schools, Dihun and Diwan, respectively. In 2011, only 14,000 pupils were enrolled in French-Breton bilingual schools, although this number reflected an increase of around 30% from the year 2006, when the number of pupils was just over 11,000. The Ofis Publik ar Brezhoneg also reported in 2011 that a further 16,000 students from early childhood to adulthood were learning Breton as a second language (at primary schools, collèges, lycées, university or evening courses), bringing the total number of Breton learners to at least 30,000.

A long campaign of defacing road signs led to the first bilingual road signs in the 1980s. These are now increasingly common in Brittany, because of the help given by the Ofis ar Brezhoneg in bilingualizing many road, town hall and other official signs.

As far as the media are concerned, there is still little Breton to be found on the airwaves, although since 1982 a few Breton-speaking radio stations have been created on an associative basis. The launching of the Breton TV Breizh in 2000 was intended to offer wider coverage of Breton. However, Breton-language programme schedules gradually decreased in favour of French-language broadcasting, until in 2010 they totally disappeared.

In Corsica, the 1991 "Joxe Statute", in setting up the Collectivité Territoriale de Corse, also provided for the Corsican Assembly, and charged it with developing a plan for the optional teaching of Corsu. At the primary school level Corsu is taught up to a fixed number of hours per week (three in the year 2000) and is a voluntary subject at the secondary school level, but is required at the University of Corsica.

There is some opposition to the Loi Toubon mandating the use of French (or at least a translation into French) in commercial advertising and packaging, as well as in some other contexts.

title: Language policy in France