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Klaus Iohannis

Klaus Werner Iohannis (, ; also spelled Johannis; born 13 June 1959), sometimes referred to by his initials KWI in the Romanian press, is a Romanian politician, physicist, and former physics teacher who has been serving as president of Romania since 2014.

He became the president of the National Liberal Party (PNL) in 2014, after previously serving as the leader of the Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania (FDGR/DFDR) between 2002 and 2013. Prior to entering national politics, he was a physics teacher at the Samuel von Brukenthal National College in his native Sibiu.

He was first elected the mayor of the Romanian town of Sibiu, Transylvania in 2000, on behalf of the Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania (FDGR/DFDR). Although the German (more specifically Transylvanian Saxon) population of the once predominantly German/Transylvanian Saxon-speaking town of Sibiu had declined to a tiny minority by the early 2000s, he won a surprise victory and was re-elected by landslides in 2004, 2008, and 2012. He is credited with turning his home town into one of Romania's most popular tourist destinations, Sibiu subsequently obtaining the title of European Capital of Culture in 2007 alongside Luxembourg City, the capital of Luxembourg.

In October 2009, four of the five political groups in the Parliament, excluding the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL) of then President Traian Băsescu, proposed him as a candidate for the office of Prime Minister of Romania; however, Băsescu refused to nominate him despite the Parliament's adoption of a declaration supporting his candidacy. He was again the candidate for Prime Minister of the PNL and the Social Democratic Party (PSD) in the elections in the same year. In February 2013, He became a member of the National Liberal Party (PNL), accepting an invitation from then liberal leader Crin Antonescu, and was immediately elected the party's first vice-president, eventually becoming the PNL president during the following year.

Ideologically a conservative,   he is the first Romanian president belonging to an ethnic minority, as he is a Transylvanian Saxon, part of Romania's German minority, which settled in Transylvania beginning in the 12th century (as part of the Ostsiedlung process which took place during the High Middle Ages). He was initially elected in 2014 and then subsequently re-elected by a landslide in 2019.

His late presidency (his second term) has been marked by democratic backsliding as well as a slight shift towards illiberalism and a more authoritarian style of government, especially after the 2021 political crisis and the formation of the National Coalition for Romania (CNR). It has faced allegations of suppression of freedom of speech and also suppression of press freedom. Furthermore, his approval ratings have decreased since April 2021 onwards as his electorate's trust in him declined based on his political behaviour, favouring the PSD and rebuffing his former political allies (albeit several of them being solely conjunctural in the past) in the process. In 2023, The Economist ranked Romania the last country in the European Union (EU) in the world terms of democracy, even behind Viktor Orbán's Hungary. Moreover, as of 2022, Romania ranks 61st globally according to The Economist Democracy Index (on par with Montenegro), 5 positions behind Hungary and still lagging behind Botswana since at least 2021 onwards. A survey from June 2023 shows that over 90% of Romanians do not trust Iohannis, with only 8% having a positive opinion on him.

Various polls and political commentators have ranked Iohannis as the worst president of Romania since the 1989 Romanian revolution.

Early life and professional career
Born in the old city centre of Sibiu (Hermannstadt) to a Transylvanian Saxon family, Klaus Iohannis is the eldest child of Gustav Heinz and Susanne Johannis. He has a younger sister, Krista Johannis (born 1964). His father worked as a technician at a state-own company, while his mother was a nurse. Both his parents as well as his sister emigrated from their native Sibiu/Hermmanstadt to Würzburg, Bavaria in Germany in 1992, acquiring citizenship there under the right of return granted by the German nationality law, as most other Transylvanian Saxons after the fall of the Iron Curtain. However, he chose to live and work in Romania.

After graduating from the Faculty of Physics of the Babeș-Bolyai University (UBB) in Cluj-Napoca in 1983, Iohannis worked as a high school physics teacher at various schools and colleges in his native Sibiu, including, from 1989 to 1997, at the Samuel von Brukenthal National College, the oldest German-speaking school in Romania. From 1997 to 1999, he was Deputy General School Inspector of Sibiu County, and from 1999 until his election as mayor in 2000, he was the General School Inspector, head of public schools in the county.

Private life
Alongside his mother tongue, German, and the language of the majority, Romanian, Iohannis also speaks English fluently and can master French to a certain degree. The original German spelling of his name is Johannis, but the name was registered by a Romanian official as Iohannis on his birth certificate and he has used both spellings interchangeably ever since.

In 1989, he married ethnic Romanian Carmen Lăzurcă, an English teacher at the Gheorghe Lazăr National College in Sibiu. They have no children.

Iohannis is a member of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Romania, the German-speaking Lutheran church, mainly of the Transylvanian Saxons, with a lesser presence in other parts of Romania.

As of 2014, his parents, sister and a niece live in Würzburg.

Iohannis has stated that his family settled in Transylvania in present-day Romania 850 years ago, more specifically around 1500 in the small town of Cisnădie (Heltau), Sibiu County.

Political career
He joined the Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania (FDGR/DFDR) in 1990, and served as a member of its board of education in Transylvania from 1997, and a member of the local party board in Sibiu from 1998. In 2001, he was elected President of the Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania (FDGR/DFDR), succeeding former president Eberhard Wolfgang Wittstock.

Mayor of Sibiu

In 2000, the Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania in Sibiu (FDGS), the local chapter of the Democratic Forum of Germans (FDGR/DFDR), decided to back him as a candidate for mayor. While initially not wanting anything else than to represent the forum through a local candidate and to obtain a certain degree of local political visibility at that time, the leadership of FDGR/DFDR was surprised for his subsequent victory.

Despite the fact that Sibiu's German minority (represented, more specifically, by Transylvanian Saxons) had shrunken to a mere 1.6%, Iohannis was elected with 69.18% of the votes and has won three re-elections in a row, getting some of the largest electoral scores in the country: 88.69% of the vote in 2004, and 83.26% in 2008. Consequently, he became the third ethnic German mayor of a Romanian city since Albert Dörr and Hans Jung (who briefly served in 1941 in Timișoara), the former who had also served in Sibiu from 1906/07 to 1918 (the first was Otto Helmut Mayerhoffer, who served as elected mayor of the town of Roman in Neamț County, between 1992 and 1996).

Throughout his tenure as mayor, he has worked to restore the town's infrastructure and to tighten the local administration. Iohannis is also widely credited with turning his hometown into one of Romania's most popular tourist destinations thanks to the extensive renovation of the old downtown. During his first term, Iohannis worked with a town council which was formed by PDSR/PSD, FDGR/DFDR, PD, CDR, and PRM. Since 2004, during his second and third terms, his own party, FDGR/DFDR, had the majority. Between 2008 and 2012, FDGR/DFDR had 14 out of 23 councillors, PDL 4, PSD 3, and PNL only 2.

Iohannis established contacts with foreign officials and investors. Sibiu was declared the European Capital of Culture of 2007, along with Luxembourg (the bearer of the distinction in 1995). Luxembourg chose to share this honourable status with Sibiu due to the fact that many of the Transylvanian Saxons emigrated in the 12th century to Transylvania from the area where Luxembourg is today. Sibiu which was mainly built by the Transylvanian Saxons as early as the Middle Ages, was for many centuries the cultural centre of the German ethnic group in Transylvania, and was a predominantly German-speaking town until the mid 20th century. Subsequently, many Germans left the town after World War II, and especially in 1990, within months of the fall of the Iron Curtain.

On 7 November 2005, Iohannis was nominated as the "Personality of the Year for a European Romania" (Personalitatea anului pentru o Românie europeană) by the Eurolink – House of Europe organization.

Candidacy for Prime Minister, with PSD support
On 14 October 2009, the leaders of the opposition parliamentary groups (the National Liberal Party (PNL), the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UMR), the Conservative Party (PC) led by Dan Voiculescu, and the group of smaller ethnic minorities), proposed Iohannis as a candidate for the post of Prime Minister, after the government of PM Emil Boc fell a day before as a result of a motion of no confidence in the Parliament. Coming from outside the national-level politics of Romania, Iohannis had an image of an independent politician, although his party (i.e. the FDGR/DFDR) consistently allied itself with, and Iohannis campaigned in the prior European Parliament elections for, the National Liberals (PNL).

Subsequently, the PNL, PSD, UDMR, and the small ethnic minorities group in the Parliament presented Iohannis as their common candidate for Prime Minister of an interim government. On 14 October, Iohannis confirmed acceptance of his candidacy. However, on 15 October, President Traian Băsescu nominated Lucian Croitoru, a top Romanian economist, as Prime Minister, and charged the latter with forming the country's next government.

After the second round of negotiations, a day before Croitoru's nomination, Băsescu noted: "Some parties have proposed Klaus Iohannis. I would like you to know that I have not rejected the possibility for him to become Prime Minister, while my options would rather envisage other [national unity government] solutions. But I have rejected such a proposal because it comes from PSD or another party [PNL]", referring to the alleged legal constraint of only considering a proposal presented by the largest parliamentary faction, at the time the Liberal Democratic Party (PDL), a constraint disputed by the other parties, along with insisting that given the financial and economic crisis at that time, a PM needs to have experience in that field. The opposition criticized the President for not designating Iohannis. Social Democrat leader Mircea Geoană accused Băsescu of trying to influence the upcoming presidential elections by having them organised by a sympathetic government. Crin Antonescu, the leader of the National Liberals, vowed his party would derail other nominations but Iohannis'. After the nomination of Croitoru, Antonescu, a candidate in the presidential election, stated that he would nominate Iohannis as prime minister if elected president. Three days later, on 18 October, Geoană suggested Antonescu was trying to use Iohannis as an "electoral agent" for Antonescu's bid for president. In response, Antonescu told the press that Iohannis "is not the type of person that would let himself be used". Geoană and PSD leadership has held a second meeting with Iohannis in Bucharest in the evening of 18 October. UDMR, which the previous day announced it would also attend, declared in the morning that all their leaders were not in the city. PNL was present at the meeting with lower level representatives, after Antonescu announced in the morning that he was campaigning in Cluj On 21 October the Parliament adopted with 252 votes in favor (PSD, PNL, UDMR, and minorities groups) and 2 against a declaration requesting the President to nominate Iohannis as Prime Minister.

In the National Liberal Party (PNL)
On 20 February 2013, Klaus Iohannis joined the PNL, announcing this during a press conference with Crin Antonescu. At a PNL extraordinary congress, he was elected First Vice President of the Party. In the meeting of 28 June 2014, he was elected President of the PNL with 95% of the votes.

Candidacy for the President of Romania

In 2009, Iohannis had stated that he might possibly run for the office of President of Romania, although not in that year. In addition, former Prime Minister Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu also stated on 27 October 2009 and again on 23 April 2010 that he would like to see Iohannis become either Prime Minister or President of Romania sometime in the future.

PNL and PDL started in the summer of 2014 procedures to strengthen the political right. The two parties will eventually merge under the name PNL, but went for elections in an alliance: the Christian Liberal Alliance (Alianța Creștin-Liberală). On 11 August the alliance chose Iohannis as its candidate for the presidential election in November and so he was registered as an official presidential candidate. In a late August 2014 interview, Iohannis described himself as a politruk who candidates for the presidency of Romania. He subsequently received 30.37% of the votes in the first round, finishing second and consequently qualifying for the second round. In the second round on 16 November he was elected President of Romania with 54.43% of the cast ballots.

Presidency (2014–present)

Iohannis took office on 21 December 2014, when Traian Băsescu's term ended. His presidential campaign focused on fighting corruption and on improving the justice system. Iohannis is also a supporter of a strongly pro-Western foreign policy. Regarding the unification of the Republic of Moldova with Romania, much discussed in the electoral campaign, Iohannis stated that "is something that only Bucharest can offer and only Chișinău can accept", and this "special relationship must be cultivated and enhanced especially by us [the Romanian state]". Upon taking office, Iohannis suspended his membership within the National Liberal Party (PNL); the Romanian constitution does not allow the president to be a formal member of a political party during his tenure.

A heavily disputed draft law proposed by Nicolae Păun, leader of the Party of the Roma, regarding the amnesty of some misdemeanors and the pardoning of certain penalties was rejected by the Chamber of Deputies at the initiative of Klaus Iohannis and the party he led, after PNL asked the Judiciary Committee 17 times to reject the draft law.

The collaboration with socialist Prime Minister Victor Ponta was praised by both sides at the start of the mandate, but deteriorated thereafter once with foreign visits of the Head of the Executive, without informing the President, but especially with the criminal prosecution of Victor Ponta for 22 alleged corruption charges, prompting Iohannis to demand his resignation from the head of the Government. Relations with Parliament went similarly. Iohannis criticized the Parliament for defending MPs by rejecting the requests of the National Anticorruption Directorate for lifting their immunity, as in the case of PSD senator Dan Șova or Prime Minister Victor Ponta. Regarding the judicial system, Klaus Iohannis pleads for a sustained fight against corruption. Likewise, Iohannis expressed dissatisfaction with attempted amendments to the Penal Code. In the context of foreign policy, Iohannis and Andrzej Duda, the President of Poland, created Bucharest Nine during a meeting between both in Bucharest on 4 November 2015. The Russian annexation of Ukrainian Crimea and the country's intervention in the east of Ukraine are the main reason for the creation of the organization. It has nine members, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.

Since coming into office, President Klaus Iohannis has made a habit to hold consultations with parliamentary parties. The first round of consultations took place on 12 January, the purpose of these discussions being a political agreement that would ensure, by 2017, a minimum threshold of 2% of GDP for the Ministry of Defence, agreement signed by all parties. The second round of consultations focused on the legislative priorities of the parliamentary session: voting in diaspora, financing electoral campaigns and parties and lifting parliamentary immunity. Because the Parliament has not implemented the commitments made on 28 January, Iohannis has organised another series of consultations on the state of electoral laws, but also on rejection of Justice requests for approval of arrest or prosecution of MPs. The topics of other meetings between the president and parties focused on the Big Brother law package and the national defense strategy.

In February 2016, the National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF) sent a notice of evacuation of the headquarters of two TV stations owned by Dan Voiculescu, sentenced in August 2014 to 10 years imprisonment in a corruption case with 60 million euros worth of prejudice. In this context, Klaus Iohannis stated that ANAF approach in Antena TV Group case is "hasty", "inappropriate" and that "freedom of expression in media can not be suppressed for trivial administrative reasons". His position was met with a wave of criticism from supporters and public figures. On the same note, Iohannis stated that union with Moldova is "a less serious approach" in the context of the Transnistria conflict, of differences between Romania and Moldova regarding economic stability and fighting corruption, and can be discussed when things are stable in both countries. The statement sparked indignation among unionists who accused him of demagogy, considering that during the electoral campaign of 2014 he expressed a favorable position on the issue. In March 2018, at the 100th anniversary of the Union of Bessarabia with Romania, he was absent from a plenary vote regarding the issue.

President Iohannis is considered the primary responsible for the 2021 Romanian political crisis,   to the point that when asked in a CURS opinion poll from November 2021, 35% of respondents said that he is the main culprit for the said crisis. Critics consider him responsible for excluding the USR from the government during late 2021, and thereby allowing the PSD to be brought back to power. This happened on 25 November 2021, when the National Coalition for Romania was founded and the Ciucă Cabinet was sworn in. Two months later, he praised the new coalition, stating that "the Romanian political class has shown democratic maturity". Iohannis has also been criticized given the fact that during the two ruling years of the PSD-ALDE coalition (more specifically between 2017 and 2019), he sharply criticized the PSD. At the 2020 legislative elections, he called the electorate to vote, promising to get rid of the PSD. Some public figures in Romania, who in the past expressed their support for Klaus Iohannis, have criticized him for his double standard and lack of proper governance. These critics include Vladimir Tismăneanu, Tudor Chirilă, Radu Paraschivescu, Mircea Cărtărescu, Andrei Oișteanu, Ada Solomon, Marius Manole, Cristian Tudor Popescu, and Gabriel Liiceanu. The coalition's rule has been described as being authoritarian, illiberal, kleptocratic and corrupt.

Despite the fact that, officially, the President of Romania is not affiliated with any political party, Iohannis is also regarded as the de facto current leader of the National Liberal Party (PNL).

On 12 June 2023, according to the protocol of the CNR, Nicolae Ciucă resigned. The next day, President Iohannis designated Marcel Ciolacu to be the next prime-minister. Ciucă became the President of the Romanian Senate on 13 June 2023. UDMR also withdrew from the coalition, after the National Liberals decided to take the Minister of Development, Public Works and Administration, which was held by UDMR in the Ciucă Cabinet. On 15 June 2023, the Parliament of Romania voted through the Ciolacu Cabinet. Iohannis praised the PSD-PNL coalition again, saying that this new model implemented in Romanian politics, the government rotation, "has worked very well so far". He also declared that "the fact that today we are here to formalize the rotation of the prime ministers shows a new level of seriousness of the coalition". During the late part of Iohannis' presidency, especially during Ciucă's premiership, the freedom of the press in Romania declined, according to World Press Freedom Index (from 75.09 in 2021 to 69.04 in 2023 ). Under Ciucă's premiership, Romania experienced democratic backsliding, with The Economist ranking it last in the European Union in the world terms of democracy, even behind Viktor Orbán's Hungary.

On 12 March 2024, Iohannis announced his candidacy for the post of Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), promising a "renewal of perspective" for the alliance and citing Romania's "deep understanding" of the situation created by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He was expected to compete against outgoing Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte. Iohannis withdrew his candidacy on 20 June 2024.

Unification of Moldova and Romania
Regarding the unification of Moldova and Romania, Klaus Iohannis declared during the 2014 presidential campaign that the unification is something that only Bucharest can provide and only Chișinău can accept. "If Moldovan citizens want the unification with Romania, then nobody can stop them", stated Klaus Iohannis. After election, his position mitigated, stressing that, at the moment, Romania should support Moldova to consolidate its pro-European path. President Klaus Iohannis said that a possible unification of Romania and Moldova could be discussed at the moment things are going well and stable in the two countries.

Autonomy of the Hungarian minority in Szeklerland
In March 2017, a sub-group of the ethnically Hungarian Székely community in southeastern Transylvania launched a petition demanding autonomy for their region, arguing for political and administrative self-rule, their own elected president and flag, as well as the recognition of Hungarian as an official language next to Romanian. Iohannis, on a visit to the region in July, cautioned against decentralization and the creation of regions based on the ethnic origin of residents. He argued for more and improved cooperation between Romanians and Hungarians "as the only solution for us" instead, stressing local administrative reforms and developing the region.

On 28 April 2020, a draft legislation favouring the autonomy of Székely Land, submitted by two deputies of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR/RMDSZ) in December 2019, was tacitly adopted by the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the Parliament of Romania, in which the Social Democratic Party (PSD) held a plurality of seats and all whilst the National Liberal Party (PNL) led a minority government. The draft bill was automatically adopted after it exceeded the 45-day deadline for debate. On 29 April, Klaus Iohannis criticised the draft's adoption in a television speech, stating "as we ... fight the coronavirus pandemic, ... the PSD ... fights in the secret offices of the parliament to give Transylvania to the Hungarians". In his speech, he used Hungarian language in a mocking manner:  ['good day' in Romanian], dear Romanians; ['good day' in Hungarian], PSD."  On the same day, the draft was rejected in the Senate, with both PNL's and PSD's senators voting in favour of the rejection.

The president's speech was met with widespread criticism. Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó described the statements of Iohannis as "particularly uncivilized and suitable for inciting hatred" and asked the Romanian president to show "more respect to Hungarians". In turn, Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Bogdan Aurescu called Szijjártó's statements "provocative and inadequate". In a radio interview, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán also reacted to the speech, saying "we have never heard such remarks from Romania, not even in the worst, most antidemocratic, tumultuous times". The president's comments were also criticised by members of the Romanian opposition parties PSD and ALDE, but also by the confidence and supply USR (which has been supporting the PNL minority government since 2019). Iohannis was fined 5000 RON by the National Council for Combating Discrimination (CNCD) for discrimination and ethnicity/nationality-based violation of the right to dignity.

Ukraine's education law
Iohannis criticized Ukraine's 2017 education law, which makes Ukrainian the only language of education in state schools, and cancelled his visit to Kyiv in October 2017. Iohannis said that Ukraine's new education law "will drastically limit the access of minorities to education in their native language. We are deeply hurt by this. We have many Romanians in Ukraine."

Anticorruption
President Klaus Iohannis is a supporter of the fight against corruption in Romania. Since coming to power in November 2014, has sent several messages of support to prosecutors investigating sensitive cases against politicians accused of corruption. Making one of its important position was on 25 February 2016 at the annual meeting of the National Anticorruption Directorate: "From year to year the work of the National Anticorruption Directorate has become more effective as the number of cases investigated and complexity, as well as final decisions on confiscation and recovery of property from crime. You are a model of functional institution and created a performance standard. Through the work and achievements, you've earned the appreciation of the Romanian citizens who want to live in a just society, in a country without corruption, the institutions, elect to represent them and those who perform public functions are actually serving the people. The results obtained by you in fighting corruption, appreciated and beyond Romania's borders are a guarantee that the process of strengthening democracy and the rule of law in Romania are on track. I am convinced that we will be increasingly more powerful in applying the constitutional principle that nobody is above the law and to align our established practice in countries with democracies that put the citizen at the center of any policy", stated Klaus Iohannis.

He has rejected demands for the suspension of the head of Romania's National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA), Laura Codruța Kövesi.

LGBT rights
In terms of LGBT rights and recognition of same-sex unions in Romania, Iohannis has not stated clearly his opinion: "Romanian society is not yet ready for a definite answer. I won't give an answer but as a president I am willing to open up the issue for discussion. We have to accept that any minority has rights and that a majority is strong when they protect the minority." However, he is pleading for the acceptance of differences and diversity: "nobody should be persecuted because they belong to a different group or they are different".

Regarding the initiative to amend Article 48 of the Constitution (prohibition of gay marriage) started by the Coalition for Family (Coaliția pentru Familie), Iohannis reiterated the concepts of tolerance and accepting one another. "It is wrong to give obedience or walk the path of religious fanaticism and ultimatum solicitations. I do not believe in them and do not support them. I believe in tolerance, trust and openness to other", said Iohannis in a press conference. Thus, Iohannis is the first top official in the country to open the discussion about same-sex marriages. His reaction was praised by international media, including The Washington Post, while religious and conservative organizations in Romania have criticized his position on LGBT rights.

Migration
Iohannis has said that migration "has to be controlled" and "it affects Romanian habits" and has supported stronger external European borders. Iohannis accepted the migration quota set for his country by the EU, but said he is still opposed to mandatory quotas being set by the Commission.

International and National Awards

 * 2023 – 🇩🇪 German Civic Award, conferred by the Bad Harzburg Civic Foundation
 * 2023 – 🇩🇪 Franz Werfel Award for Human Rights, granted by the Center against Expulsions in Bonn, the Federal Republic of Germany
 * 2020 – 🇩🇪 European Charles IV Prize of the Sudeten German Homeland Association, the Federal Republic of Germany
 * 2020/2021 – 🇩🇪 Charlemagne Prize, awarded by the City of Aachen, the Federal Republic of Germany
 * 2020 – 🇩🇪 The Emperor Otto Prize, awarded by the City of Magdeburg, the Federal Republic of Germany
 * 2020 – 🇪🇺 European Prize Coudenhove-Kalergi, European Society Coudenhove-Kalergi
 * 2019 – 🇷🇴 Medal of Honour (Goldene Ehrennadel), the Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania, Sibiu
 * 2018 – 🇩🇪 Franz Josef Strauss award, Hanns Seidel Foundation, Munich, the Federal Republic of Germany
 * 2017 – 🇺🇸 Light Unto the Nations award, American Jewish Committee, Washington, D.C., United States of America
 * 2017 – 🇩🇪 Semper Opera Ball Dresden Medal of St. George, the Federal Republic of Germany
 * 2016 – 🇩🇪 Hermann Ehlers award, Hermann Ehlers Foundation, Kiel, the Federal Republic of Germany
 * 2016 – 🇳🇱 Martin Buber-Plaque, EURIADE Foundation, Kerkrade, the Kingdom of the Netherlands
 * 2010 – 🇷🇴 Friend of the Jewish Communities in Romania Medal of Honor, Sibiu, Romania
 * 2010 – 🇩🇪 The German Expatriates Association Plaque of Honor

State honorary distinctions

 * 2023 – 🇵🇹 Grand Collar of the Order of Liberty of the Portuguese Republic
 * 2022 – 🇱🇹 Grand Cross of the Order for Merits to Lithuania
 * 2022 – 🇱🇻 Order of the Three Stars – Commander Grand Cross (1st class) – Republic of Latvia
 * 2022 – Grand Collar of the State of Palestine
 * 2021 – 🇪🇪 Collar of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana of the Republic of Estonia
 * 2019 – 🇷🇴 Emblem of Honour of Romanian Army
 * 2017 – 🇭🇷 Grand Order of King Tomislav with Sash and Grand Star of the Republic of Croatia
 * 2016 – 🇸🇰 Order (First Class) of the White Double Cross of the Slovak Republic
 * 2016 – 🇫🇷 Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour of the French Republic
 * 2016 – 🇵🇱 Order of the White Eagle of the Republic of Poland
 * 2016 – 🇩🇪 Grand Cross (Special Class) of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
 * 2016 – 🇧🇬 Order Stara Planina with Ribbon of the Republic of Bulgaria
 * 2016 – 🇮🇹 Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
 * 2016 – 🇱🇺 Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
 * 2016 – 🇱🇹 Collar (First Class) of the Order of Vytautas the Great, the Republic of Lithuania
 * 2016 – 🇮🇱 Order of the Holy Sepulchre of the Patriarchate of the Holy City of Jerusalem and all Palestine and Israel
 * 2016 – 🇲🇩 Order of the Republic of Moldova
 * 2015 – 🇵🇹 Grand Collar of the Order of the Infante D. Henrique of the Portuguese Republic
 * 2014 – 🇩🇪 Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
 * 2011 – 🇷🇴 Knight of the National Order for Merit of Romania
 * 2009 – 🇧🇪 Officer of the Order of the Crown of the Kingdom of Belgium
 * 2009 – 🇦🇹 Grand Cross Order of Merit, the Republic of Austria
 * 2009 – 🇱🇺 Officer of the Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
 * 2008 – 🇮🇹 Commander of the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity of the Italian Republic
 * 2007 – 🇷🇴 Knight of the National Order of the Star of Romania
 * 2006 – 🇩🇪 Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

Books
Klaus Johannis published three books with a main focus on politics as follows:

 * 2014 – Step by step (Pas cu pas, Schritt für Schritt, ISBN 978-606-588-756-5), autobiographical volume and bestseller in the history of Gaudeamus International Book and Education Fair, detailing his political career as mayor of his native Sibiu (Hermannstadt).
 * 2015 – First step (Primul pas, Erster Schritt, ISBN 978-606-588-831-9), a continuation of the volume "Step by step" which was published in 2014. The volume describes his future plans as president.
 * 2019 – EU.RO – un dialog deschis despre Europa (EU.RO – an open dialog on Europe, Ein offener Dialog über Europa), an introductory and statistical volume on the European Union (EU)

title: Klaus Iohannis


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File:Equinoxe Jarre Album.jpg

Summary
This is the album cover for Jean Michel Jarre's Équinoxe.

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

title: File:Equinoxe Jarre Album.jpg


text: Category:1458 BC deaths

title: Category:1458 BC deaths


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Daigasso! Band Brothers

Daigasso! Band Brothers (大合奏!バンドブラザーズ) is a music video game published and developed by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld game console. It was released in Japan on December 2, 2004 as a launch game for the Nintendo DS. The game features multiple songs, which include classical music, television themes, and video game music. The game is controlled using both the buttons on the DS as well as its touch screen in certain portions. It uses a variety of different instruments, which are combined selectively in order to compose a song. Besides the primary mode, players may play together, each one playing a different instrument in the song. Players may also compose their own songs. It was to be released in the United States as Jam with the Band, but was never released nor formally cancelled. It has a sequel titled Jam with the Band, which was released in Japan in 2008 and in Europe in 2010.

Gameplay
The single-player game of Band Brothers includes 35 normal songs, plus three unlockable songs. These are divided into the categories J-Pop, World, TV (anime/tokusatsu), Classic, and Game (includes a variety of medleys from Nintendo titles such as Mario, Fire Emblem, and Zelda). Each song has a number of parts available for the player to play, usually ranging from 6 to 8, and each part will generally be a different instrument, but many songs have more than one part played by the same instrument.

In the Beginner mode, all notes are represented either by a D-Pad icon or a button icon, and any direction or face button respectively will automatically play the correct note. In Amateur mode, each of the eight buttons on the face of the Nintendo DS system correspond to a musical note; there is also a drum set where each button, including the L and R buttons, plays a specific drum or cymbal. As many songs contain fast or difficult parts to play, they are covered in the Beginner and Amateur modes—when the cursor is about to move over them, the lower screen will change to the "touch" command; touching the bottom screen at this time causes the notes underneath the touch screen portion to be played automatically. These do not contribute to the player's score, but prevent high-speed sequences from being forced on the player early on, and activating them helps to keep the rhythm and flow of the song.

In Pro Mode, the player must hold down the L button while playing specified notes to raise them by a semitone, and hold down the R button at other notes to raise them by an octave; some notes combine both of these functions to raise a note an octave and a semitone. The player may also play a ↓+R note as X, as X represents the same note as ↓ an octave higher. In addition, the drum set sometimes requires the player to hit two notes at once, and the touch screen portions must be played manually; at this point the game receives a drastic increase in difficulty, and essentially turns the Nintendo DS into a musical instrument.

As a song progresses, the top screen scrolls through one bar at a time (one stretching across the screen horizontally, and the next few bars shown below it). A cursor moves to show where in the song the player currently is, and as the cursor moves over a note's "head", the aim is to press the button displayed on that head, and if necessary holding it down until the end of the "tail". Some long notes will have a tail extending across multiple bars, and very short ones will have none at all. Successfully hit the buttons at the proper time and it'll make an excellent piece of music, but hit it at the wrong time and it'll sound like a jumbled mess.

As in many music/rhythm-based games, every single note is given a title based on the accuracy, and the more accurate notes increase the score by more. These ranks are Best (perfect timing), Good (slightly too fast or slow), Bad (the note's head will not disappear; much too fast or slow) and Miss (the correct note was not played at all, or stopped before the end of the tail). At the end of a song, the score is calculated as a number out of 100.

In Free Play Mode the player scrolls through the songs using up and down on the D-Pad, and selects a part from the list using the touch screen. Listed with the instrument name will be a star difficulty level from 1 to 5. In Amateur and Pro modes (which are judged separately and toggled via a switch on the title screen), the player's score is recorded and appears next to the instrument of the song.

Progression through the game is done in the Recording Ticket mode, a single player mode where the player must play three randomly selected songs, depending on the ticket level of the player; for example a level three ticket will have the player randomly playing songs using instruments with a 3-star difficulty rating. The goal is to play the three songs and get a total score of 240/300, while making as few mistakes as possible; if the player makes too many mistakes, represented by a bomb and a burning fuse, then the game ends.

Beating the Recording Ticket Mode at the Beginner level, which only has 1 level, unlocks the Amateur mode; and beating all five levels of Amateur mode unlocks Professional mode. Beating the five levels of the Professional mode unlocks the Recording Ticket Gold Mode, a harder version of Professional Recording Ticket Mode that requires a near perfect performance to beat, i.e. 297/300; Recording Ticket Gold Mode consists of only one level, with songs randomly chosen from all 5 difficulty levels.

''Daigasso! Band Brothers'' utilizes the Nintendo DS' Wireless Link connection to allow multiple players to join in and make music. In 2 to 8 player link-ups, each player, like in solo player mode, takes command of one specific instrument in the music piece. Each player in the group is part of a band, and must play the song together as a group, and the better each player follows along, the more in tune the song comes through. Every note played, right or wrong, can be heard on the other players' systems, and if every single part in the song is played by a human absolutely nothing will be automated. Scores are measured by percentage of notes hit, each players percentage is represented by a balloon in the bottom screen. This lets everyone know how they are doing in comparison to their friends score.

Another feature is a full blown music editor allowing the player to create their own custom tunes, using the touch screen to select the notes. It contains the basic features of any MIDI composer, although the players are limited to 8 parts in a song and not every single MIDI instrument is available. This mode is used by many people to recreate tunes from video games or other MIDIs using a program to convert them into sheet music. There is also a mode in which players can sing or hum a tune into the Nintendo DS microphone, which will be recognized by the game and converted into notes on the screen. Any musical piece the player compose can be transmitted wirelessly to a friend's cart(s) so they can play the song.

Development
The game first appeared at the Tokyo Game Show in the Spring of 2001 where it was announced for the Game Boy Advance—although it was originally being developed for the Game Boy Color—under the tentative name Game Boy Music. It lacked many of the features in the DS game, such as the touch screen and wireless multiplayer, but it had a wide variety of instruments to play, and featured the same graphical style of the DS game; it also starred the game's mascot, who would eventually be named Barbara the Bat. The game was delayed for several reasons, but the two main reasons were:
 * 1) The limited technology of the Game Boy systems made it difficult to produce a good music game; in particular, the lack of buttons and an inadequate sound system.
 * 2) The developers of the game had trouble getting Nintendo to approve the new characters they created, as a new character would not have the automatic appeal of an existing character.

Eventually, ''Daigasso! Band Brothers'' was released in Japan for the Nintendo DS in 2004 as a launch title; the game was also announced for a North American release, and as late as September 2006, it was listed as "in development", but is no longer found on Nintendo of America's website. It was also listed as "To Be Confirmed" on Nintendo Australia's website until its last relaunch.

In September 2005, Nintendo released an expansion pack titled ''Daigasso! Band Brothers Tsuika Kyoku Cartridge (or Great Concert! Band Brothers Request Selection Cartridge'' in English). The expansion comes in the form of a GBA cartridge, which is inserted into the DS at the same time as the original Band Brothers card, making Band Brothers the first DS game that uses the GBA port for more than some minor unlockables. It features 31 new songs, which were chosen based on a survey posted on Nintendo's website in July. The scores of the songs do not save after being played.

Sequel
A sequel named ''Daigasso! Band Brothers DX'' was released for the Nintendo DS in Japan on June 26, 2008. It was released in Europe under the name Jam with the Band on May 21, 2010. The sequel is capable of interacting with the Wii through a game-specific channel called the Live Channel, known as the Speaker Channel in Japan. Jam with the Band also allowed the player to download new songs to the 8 megabyte capacity game cartridge via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.

Daigasso! Band Brothers P
Another sequel named ''Daigasso! Band Brothers P'' was released for the Nintendo 3DS in Japan in November 2013, developed by Intelligent Systems. The game was discontinued in May 2020 and became unplayable.

title: Daigasso! Band Brothers


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File:Beyond Zork game box cover.jpg

Beyond Zork game box cover.

Source: http://www.gue-network.com with permission

Original uploader information

 * 18:33, 11 April 2005 . . Brian0918 (Talk | contribs) . . 494×607 (53,728 bytes) (Beyond Zork game box cover. )

title: File:Beyond Zork game box cover.jpg


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Prabhadevi

Prabhadevi (Pronunciation: [pɾəbʱaːd̪eʋiː]) is a small up-scale southern neighbourhood of Mumbai, situated between Dadar to the north, Worli to the south and the Arabian Sea to the west. The area derives its name from the 300-year-old Prabhavati temple located in the locality. Prabhadevi starts at Sayani Road Junction and ends at Babasaheb Worlikar Chowk.

Landmarks
Prabhadevi is largely a residential area, consisting mostly of newly built apartments and high rises.

One of Prabhadevi's most important landmarks is Siddhivinayak Temple, which attracts thousands of devotees every day, Tuesday being the main day of prayer.

Transportation
Numerous BEST buses ply in the Prabhadevi region. Prabhadevi is not directly served by the local train; the nearest station is Prabhadevi on the Western line and Parel on the Central line; which was previously known as Parel-Elphinstone Road railway station. Prabhadevi is excellently connected to Bandra via the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, facilitating easy travel to neighboring regions.

Notable residents

 * Kishori Amonkar
 * Deepika Padukone
 * Ranveer Singh
 * Sulochana Latkar
 * Kunal Vijaykar

title: Prabhadevi


text:
Information technology audit

An information technology audit, or information systems audit, is an examination of the management controls within an Information technology (IT) infrastructure and business applications. The evaluation of evidence obtained determines if the information systems are safeguarding assets, maintaining data integrity, and operating effectively to achieve the organization's goals or objectives. These reviews may be performed in conjunction with a financial statement audit, internal audit, or other form of attestation engagement.

IT audits are also known as automated data processing audits (ADP audits) and computer audits.

They were formerly called electronic data processing audits (EDP audits).

Purpose
An IT audit is different from a financial statement audit. While a financial audit's purpose is to evaluate whether the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, an entity's financial position, results of operations, and cash flows in conformity to standard accounting practices, the purposes of an IT audit is to evaluate the system's internal control design and effectiveness. This includes, but is not limited to, efficiency and security protocols, development processes, and IT governance or oversight. Installing controls are necessary but not sufficient to provide adequate security. People responsible for security must consider if the controls are installed as intended, if they are effective, or if any breach in security has occurred and if so, what actions can be done to prevent future breaches. These inquiries must be answered by independent and unbiased observers. These observers are performing the task of information systems auditing. In an Information Systems (IS) environment, an audit is an examination of information systems, their inputs, outputs, and processing.

As technology continues to advance and become more prevalent in our lives and in businesses, along comes an increase of IT threats and disruptions. These impact every industry and come in different forms such as data breaches, external threats, and operational issues. These risks and need for high levels of assurance increase the need for IT audits to check businesses IT system performances and to lower the probability and impact of technology threats and disruptions.

The primary functions of an IT audit are to evaluate the systems that are in place to guard an organization's information. Specifically, information technology audits are used to evaluate the organization's ability to protect its information assets and to properly dispense information to authorized parties. The IT audit aims to evaluate the following:

Will the organization's computer systems be available for the business at all times when required? (known as availability) Will the information in the systems be disclosed only to authorized users? (known as security and confidentiality) Will the information provided by the system always be accurate, reliable, and timely? (measures the integrity) In this way, the audit hopes to assess the risk to the company's valuable asset (its information) and establish methods of minimizing those risks.

More specifically, organizations should look into three major requirements: confidentiality, integrity, and availability to label their needs for security and trust in their IT systems.

 * Confidentiality: The purpose is to keep private information restricted from unauthorized users.
 * Integrity: The purpose is to guarantee that information be changed in an authorized manner
 * Availability: The purpose is to ensure that only authorized users have access to specific information

These three requirements should be emphasized in every industry and every organization with an IT environment but each requirements and controls to support them will vary.

classification of IT audits
Various authorities have created differing taxonomies to distinguish the various types of IT audits. Goodman & Lawless state that there are three specific systematic approaches to carry out an IT audit:
 * Technological innovation process audit . This audit constructs a risk profile for existing and new projects.  The audit will assess the length and depth of the company's experience in its chosen technologies, as well as its presence in relevant markets, the organization of each project, and the structure of the portion of the industry that deals with this project or product, organization and industry structure.
 * Innovative comparison audit . This audit is an analysis of the innovative abilities of the company being audited, in comparison to its competitors.  This requires examination of company's research and development facilities, as well as its track record in actually producing new products.
 * Technological position audit : This audit reviews the technologies that the business currently has and that it needs to add. Technologies are characterized as being either "base", "key", "pacing" or "emerging".

Others describe the spectrum of IT audits with five categories of audits:
 * Systems and Applications : An audit to verify that systems and applications are appropriate, are efficient, and are adequately controlled to ensure valid, reliable, timely, and secure input, processing, and output at all levels of a system's activity. System and process assurance audits form a subtype, focussing on business process-centric business IT systems. Such audits have the objective to assist financial auditors.

 * Information Processing Facilities : An audit to verify that the processing facility is controlled to ensure timely, accurate, and efficient processing of applications under normal and potentially disruptive conditions.
 * Systems Development : An audit to verify that the systems under development meet the objectives of the organization, and to ensure that the systems are developed in accordance with generally accepted standards for systems development.
 * Management of IT and Enterprise Architecture : An audit to verify that IT management has developed an organizational structure and procedures to ensure a controlled and efficient environment for information processing.
 * Client/Server, Telecommunications, Intranets, and Extranets : An audit to verify that telecommunications controls are in place on the client (computer receiving services), server, and on the network connecting the clients and servers.

And some lump all IT audits as being one of only two type: "general control review" audits or "application control review" audits.

A number of IT audit professionals from the Information Assurance realm consider there to be three fundamental types of controls regardless of the type of audit to be performed, especially in the IT realm. Many frameworks and standards try to break controls into different disciplines or arenas, terming them “Security Controls“, ”Access Controls“, “IA Controls” in an effort to define the types of controls involved. At a more fundamental level, these controls can be shown to consist of three types of fundamental controls: Protective/Preventative Controls, Detective Controls and Reactive/Corrective Controls.

In an IS, there are two types of auditors and audits: internal and external. IS auditing is usually a part of accounting internal auditing, and is frequently performed by corporate internal auditors. An external auditor reviews the findings of the internal audit as well as the inputs, processing and outputs of information systems. The external audit of information systems is primarily conducted by certified Information System auditors, such as CISA, certified by ISACA, Information System Audit and Control Association, USA, Information System Auditor (ISA) certified by ICAI (Institute of Chartered Accountants of India), and other certified by reputed organization for IS audit. Delete -->  (frequently a part of the overall external auditing performed by a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) firm.  ) IS auditing considers all the potential hazards and controls in information systems. It focuses on issues like operations, data, integrity, software applications, security, privacy, budgets and expenditures, cost control, and productivity. Guidelines are available to assist auditors in their jobs, such as those from Information Systems Audit and Control Association.

History of IT auditing
The concept of IT auditing was formed in the mid-1960s. Since that time, IT auditing has gone through numerous changes, largely due to advances in technology and the incorporation of technology into business.

Currently, there are many IT-dependent companies that rely on information technology in order to operate their business e.g. Telecommunication or Banking company. For the other types of business, IT plays the big part of company including the applying of workflow instead of using the paper request form, using the application control instead of manual control which is more reliable or implementing the ERP application to facilitate the organization by using only 1 application. According to these, the importance of IT Audit is constantly increased. One of the most important roles of the IT audit is to audit over the critical system in order to support the financial audit or to support the specific regulations announced e.g. SOX.

Principles of an IT audit
The following principles of an audit should find a reflection:

This list of audit principles for crypto applications describes - beyond the methods of technical analysis - particularly core values, that should be taken into account
 * Timeliness:  Only when the processes and programming is continuously inspected in regard to their potential susceptibility to faults and weaknesses, but as well with regard to the continuation of the analysis of the found strengths, or by comparative functional analysis with similar applications an updated frame can be continued.
 * Source openness:  It requires an explicit reference in the audit of encrypted programs, how the handling of open source has to be understood. E.g. programs, offering an open source application, but not considering the IM server as open source, have to be regarded as critical. An auditor should take an own position to the paradigm of the need of the open source nature within cryptologic applications.
 * Elaborateness:  Audit processes should be oriented to certain minimum standard. The recent audit processes of encrypting software often vary greatly in quality, in the scope and effectiveness and also experience in the media reception often differing perceptions. Because of the need of special knowledge on the one hand and to be able to read programming code and then on the other hand to also have knowledge of encryption procedures, many users even trust the shortest statements of formal confirmation. Individual commitment as an auditor, e.g. for quality, scale and effectiveness, is thus to be assessed reflexively for yourself and to be documented within the audit.
 * The financial context:  Further transparency is needed to clarify whether the software has been developed commercially and whether the audit was funded commercially (paid Audit). It makes a difference whether it is a private hobby / community project or whether a commercial company is behind it.
 * Scientific referencing of learning perspectives:  Each audit should describe the findings in detail within the context and also highlight progress and development needs constructively. An auditor is not the parent of the program, but at least he or she is in a role of a mentor, if the auditor is regarded as part of a PDCA learning circle (PDCA = Plan-Do-Check-Act). There should be next to the description of the detected vulnerabilities also a description of the innovative opportunities and the development of the potentials.
 * Literature-inclusion:  A reader should not rely solely on the results of one review, but also judge according to a loop of a management system (e.g. PDCA, see above), to ensure, that the development team or the reviewer was and is prepared to carry out further analysis, and also in the development and review process is open to learnings and to consider notes of others. A list of references should be accompanied in each case of an audit.
 * Inclusion of user manuals & documentation:  Further a check should be done, whether there are manuals and technical documentations, and, if these are expanded.
 * Identify references to innovations:  Applications that allow both, messaging to offline and online contacts, so considering chat and e-mail in one application - as it is also the case with GoldBug - should be tested with high priority (criterion of presence chats in addition to the e-mail function). The auditor should also highlight the references to innovations and underpin further research and development needs.

Emerging issues
There are also new audits being imposed by various standard boards which are required to be performed, depending upon the audited organization, which will affect IT and ensure that IT departments are performing certain functions and controls appropriately to be considered compliant. Examples of such audits are SSAE 16, ISAE 3402, and ISO27001:2013.

Web presence audits
The extension of the corporate IT presence beyond the corporate firewall (e.g. the adoption of social media by the enterprise along with the proliferation of cloud-based tools like social media management systems) has elevated the importance of incorporating web presence audits into the IT/IS audit. The purposes of these audits include ensuring the company is taking the necessary steps to:
 * rein in use of unauthorized tools (e.g. "shadow IT")
 * minimize damage to reputation
 * maintain regulatory compliance
 * prevent information leakage
 * mitigate third-party risk
 * minimize governance risk

The use of departmental or user developed tools has been a controversial topic in the past. However, with the widespread availability of data analytics tools, dashboards, and statistical packages users no longer need to stand in line waiting for IT resources to fulfill seemingly endless requests for reports. The task of IT is to work with business groups to make authorized access and reporting as straightforward as possible. To use a simple example, users should not have to do their own data matching so that pure relational tables are linked in a meaningful way. IT needs to make non-normalized, data warehouse type files available to users so that their analysis work is simplified. For example, some organizations will refresh a warehouse periodically and create easy to use "flat' tables which can be easily uploaded by a package such as Tableau and used to create dashboards.

Enterprise communications audits
The rise of VOIP networks and issues like BYOD and the increasing capabilities of modern enterprise telephony systems causes increased risk of critical telephony infrastructure being misconfigured, leaving the enterprise open to the possibility of communications fraud or reduced system stability. Banks, financial institutions, and contact centers typically set up policies to be enforced across their communications systems. The task of auditing that the communications systems are in compliance with the policy falls on specialized telecom auditors. These audits ensure that the company's communication systems:
 * adhere to stated policy
 * follow policies designed to minimize the risk of hacking or phreaking
 * maintain regulatory compliance
 * prevent or minimize toll fraud
 * mitigate third-party risk
 * minimize governance risk

Enterprise communications audits are also called voice audits, but the term is increasingly deprecated as communications infrastructure increasingly becomes data-oriented and data-dependent. The term "telephony audit" is also deprecated because modern communications infrastructure, especially when dealing with customers, is omni-channel, where interaction takes place across multiple channels, not just over the telephone. One of the key issues that plagues enterprise communication audits is the lack of industry-defined or government-approved standards. IT audits are built on the basis of adherence to standards and policies published by organizations such as NIST and PCI, but the absence of such standards for enterprise communications audits means that these audits have to be based an organization's internal standards and policies, rather than industry standards. As a result, enterprise communications audits are still manually done, with random sampling checks. Policy Audit Automation tools for enterprise communications have only recently become available.

Ethical Dilemmas in IT Audits
The Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in IT audits is growing rapidly, with 30% of all corporate audits to be conducted using AI by 2025 as reported by the World Economic forum from 2015. AI in IT audits raises many ethical issues.

 * 1) The use of Artificial Intelligence causes unintended biases in results An issue that AI faces in completing IT audits for corporations is that unintended biases can occur as the AI filters through data. AI does not have a human element or the ability to understand different situations in which certain data is expected or not expected. AI only understands the data in which it has seen before and therefore is unable to evolve given each unique situation. This causes unintended biases and therefore unintended consequences if the AI systems are given too much trust and not carefully monitored by the human eye. As a result ethical, legal and economic issues arise.
 * 2) Technology replacing the role of humans Big 4 firms have invested significant amounts of money in emerging technologies in the IT audit space. AI is now being used in assurance practices performing tasks such as “auditing and accounting procedures such as review of general ledgers, tax compliance, preparing work-papers, data analytics, expense compliance, fraud detection, and decision-making.” This essentially replaces the need for auditors and relegates those who work in assurance to roles as “overseers” of the technology. However, firms still need auditors to perform analysis on the AI results of the IT audit. Auditors who do not understand the algorithms being utilized in the audit can allow mistakes to be made by these imperfect programs. Thus auditors with extensive tech backgrounds and degrees in technology are highly coveted by firms utilizing AI to perform audits.

Effect of IT Audit on Companies and Financial Audits
Globalization in combination with the growth in information technology systems has caused companies to shift to an increasingly digitized working environment. Advantages provided by these systems include a reduction in working time, the ability to test large amounts of data, reduce audit risk, and provide more flexible and complete analytical information. With an increase in time, auditors are able to implement additional audit tests, leading to a great improvement in the audit process overall. The use of computer-assisted audit techniques (CAATs) have allowed companies to examine larger samples of data and more thorough reviews of all transactions, allowing the auditor to test and better understand any issues within the data.

The use of IT systems in audits has transformed the way auditors accomplish important audit functions such as the management of databases, risk assurance and controls, and even governance and compliance. In addition, IT audit systems improve the operational efficiency and aid in decision making that would otherwise be left to hand-held calculations. IT systems help to eliminate the human error in audits and while it does not fully solve the issue, IT systems have proven to be helpful in audits done by the Big 4 and small firms alike. These systems have greatly reduced the margin of error on audits and provide a better insight into the data being analyzed.

As a result of the increased use of IT systems in audits, authoritative bodies such as the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Information Systems Audit Control Association (ISACA) have established guidance on how to properly use IT systems to perform audits. Auditors must now adhere to the established guidelines when utilizing IT systems in audits.

Benefits of Utilizing IT systems on Financial Audits
The use of IT systems and AI techniques on financial audits is starting to show huge benefits for leading accounting firms. In a study done by one of the Big 4 accounting firms, it is expected that the use of IT Systems and AI techniques will generate an increase of $6.6 trillion in revenue as a result of the increase in productivity. As a result, leading auditing firms are making enormous investments with the goal of increasing productivity and therefore revenue through the development or outsourcing of IT systems and AI techniques to assist in financial audits.

PwC, one of the biggest auditing firms in the world, has narrowed down three different types of IT systems and AI techniques that firms can develop and implement to achieve increased revenue and productivity. The first system is by created in a way that technology systems that play a supplemental role in the human auditors decision-making. This allows the human auditor to retain autonomy over decisions and use the technology to support and enhance their ability to perform accurate work, ultimately saving the firm in productivity costs. Next, PwC states that systems with problem solving abilities are imperative to producing the most accurate results. PwC recognizes the increased margin for error due to unintended biases, and thus the need for creating systems that are able to adapt to different scenarios. This type of system requires decision making to be shared between the human auditor and the IT system to produce the maximum output by allowing the system to take over the computing work that could not be one by a human auditor alone. Finally, PwC recognizes that there are scenarios where technology needs to have the autonomy of decision making and act independently. This allows human auditors to focus on more important tasks while the technology takes care of time consuming tasks that do not require human time.

The utilization of IT systems and AI techniques on financial audits extend past the goal of reaching maximized productivity and increased revenue. Firms who utilize these systems to assist in the completion of audits are able to identify pieces of data that may constitute fraud with higher efficiency and accuracy. For example, systems such as drones have been approved by all four of the big 4 to assist in obtaining more accurate inventory calculations, meanwhile voice and facial recognition is adding firms in fraud cases.

Computer forensics

 * Computer forensics
 * Data analysis

Operations

 * Helpdesk and incident reporting auditing
 * Change management auditing
 * Disaster recovery and business continuity auditing
 * ISAE 3402

Miscellaneous

 * XBRL assurance

Irregularities and illegal acts

 * AICPA Standard: SAS 99 Consideration of Fraud in a Financial Statement Audit
 * Computer fraud case studies

title: Information technology audit


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Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Inari-chan

 This page is an archive of the discussion about the proposed deletion of the article below. This page is no longer live. Further comments should be made on the article's talk page rather than here so that this page is preserved as an historic record. The result of the debate was merge. Radio KoL merged with Kingdom of Loathing and this into that. Jinian 13:02, 20 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Inari-chan
Radio KoL DJ. Station not notable, DJ not notable, show not notable. Vanity-by-proxy. No potential. Pretty much everything in the deletion policy apart from "Not a real Pokemon". Chris talk back 18:34, 11 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * I think the station itself is probably notable, I suggest a merge with that. Andrew Lenahan - St ar bli nd 18:48, Apr 11, 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete, not notable, stationcruft. Megan1967 10:30, 12 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * Merge to Radio KoL, with same reasoning as in my votes on other RKoL hosts in the last few days. RKoL is pioneering enough to be on the edge of general notability, but its DJs and writers reach at most a few thousand people (probably less in most cases) and don't meet WP notability guidelines for more than listing in a section of the parent article.  Barno 00:34, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * Merge, agree with above. Grue 19:36, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * Merge. This is just way too short and is really a vanity article.  Maybe make a DJ section in the Radio KoL article. --Phoenix Hacker 23:49, Apr 16, 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. The article doesnt appear to be needed, and nor does it require a merger to the Radio KoL page. Isnt even a current DJ. DaCyclops 14:33, 17 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * This page is now preserved as an archive of the debate and, like some other VfD subpages, is no longer 'live'. Subsequent comments on the issue, the deletion, or the decision-making process should be placed on the relevant 'live' pages. Please do not edit this page.


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Turk Broda

Walter Edward "Turk" Broda (May 15, 1914 — October 17, 1972) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. A goaltender, Broda played his entire career for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1935 and 1951, taking a brief hiatus from 1943 to 1946 to fight in the Second World War. He was the first goaltender to reach 300 wins. After retiring from active play, Broda coached minor league and junior ice hockey teams. In 2017 Broda was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.

Personal life
Broda was born in Brandon, Manitoba to a Ukrainian family. Although he is commonly referred to as Polish by mistake (to the extent of him being inducted in the National Polish American Sports Hall of Fame in 2005), Publicity Director Stan Obodiac of the Maple Leafs, who knew Broda, dispelled this and confirmed Broda's Ukrainian origin.

Broda acquired the nickname of "Turkey Egg" during his school days in Brandon because of his many freckles. "Turkey Egg" soon became "Turk", and the name followed him.

Early career
Broda started his playing career with the Brandon Athletics and the Brandon Native Sons. After playing a few years with them he played for the Winnipeg Monarchs, Detroit Farm Crest and the Toronto St. Michael's Majors. In 1933–34, the Detroit Red Wings invited Turk Broda to their training camp. But with Normie Smith and John Ross Roach already in Detroit, there was no way Broda could start in the NHL. Instead, he started his professional career with the Detroit Olympics.

In 1933 Broda also appeared in goal for the Riding Mountain Relief Camp All-Stars, a group of hockey players from various Depression work camps around the lake by Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba.

NHL career
In 1935–36, he was acquired by the Toronto Maple Leafs for $7500. Broda emerged as one of the league's top goaltenders in the 1940–41 season, as he led the league in wins with 28 in 48 games. In 1941–42, he won his first Stanley Cup with the Leafs, who came back from being down three games to none against the Detroit Red Wings in one of the greatest comebacks in NHL history.

In 1942–43, Broda joined the army for two and a half years during World War II. In 1945–46, Turk Broda returned to the Maple Leafs roster and was instrumental in the team's Stanley Cup victories in 1946–47, 1947–48, 1948–49 and in 1950–51. Turk Broda retired in 1951–52, at 38 years of age.

"Battle of the Bulge"
The "Battle of the Bulge" was a battle between him and the owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs Conn Smythe about Broda losing weight. This argument brought a lot of attention from the media in Toronto, Ontario. Smythe ordered Broda to lose 10 lb in a week and brought Al Rollins and Gilles Mayer from the minor leagues just to pressure Broda into losing weight. If Broda could not lose weight, then he would be removed from his goalkeeping duties. In the end, Broda lost enough weight to keep his job, though Broda admitted years later that the scales were rigged in his favour.

Legacy
After retiring, Broda became a coach. He coached the Ottawa Senators in the Quebec Hockey League. He later became the head coach of the Toronto Marlboros. He led the Marlboros to back to back Memorial Cup championships in 1955, and in 1956.

Broda was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1967 and was inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in 1983 as an "Honoured" member. In 1998, he was ranked number 60 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players. With 13 shutouts and a GAA of 1.98 in the playoffs, he helped the Leafs win 5 Stanley Cups and establish a dynasty. In 2005, Broda was inducted into the National Polish American Sports Hall of Fame. He died in 1972 at the age of 58 from a heart attack.

Awards and achievements

 * Turnbull Cup MJHL Championship (1933)
 * Calder Cup Championship (1936)
 * Vezina Trophy (1941 and 1948)
 * NHL First All-Star Team Goalie (1941 and 1948)
 * Stanley Cup Championship (1942, 1947, 1948, 1949, and 1951)
 * NHL Second All-Star Team Goalie (1942)
 * In 1998, he was ranked number 60 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players
 * Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1967.
 * Honoured Member of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame
 * Inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in 1983
 * #1 jersey retired by the Toronto Maple Leafs
 * In January, 2017, Broda was part of the first group of players to be named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.

title: Turk Broda


text:
Unipotent

In mathematics, a unipotent element r of a ring R is one such that r − 1 is a nilpotent element; in other words, (r − 1)n is zero for some n.

In particular, a square matrix M is a unipotent matrix if and only if its characteristic polynomial P(t) is a power of t − 1. Thus all the eigenvalues of a unipotent matrix are 1.

The term quasi-unipotent means that some power is unipotent, for example for a diagonalizable matrix with eigenvalues that are all roots of unity.

In the theory of algebraic groups, a group element is unipotent if it acts unipotently in a certain natural group representation. A unipotent affine algebraic group is then a group with all elements unipotent.

Definition with matrices
Consider the group $$\mathbb{U}_n$$ of upper-triangular matrices with $$1$$'s along the diagonal, so they are the group of matrices
 * $$\mathbb{U}_n = \left\{

\begin{bmatrix} 1 & * & \cdots & * & * \\ 0 & 1 & \cdots & * & * \\ \vdots & \vdots & &\vdots & \vdots \\ 0& 0& \cdots & 1 &* \\ 0 & 0 & \cdots & 0 & 1 \end{bmatrix} \right\}.$$ Then, a unipotent group can be defined as a subgroup of some $$\mathbb{U}_n$$. Using scheme theory the group $$\mathbb{U}_n$$ can be defined as the group scheme
 * $$\text{Spec}\left(

\frac{\mathbb{C}\!\left[x_{11},x_{12},\ldots, x_{nn}, \frac{1}{\text{det}}\right]}{ (x_{ii} = 1, x_{i > j} = 0) } \right)$$ and an affine group scheme is unipotent if it is a closed group scheme of this scheme.

Definition with ring theory
An element x of an affine algebraic group is unipotent when its associated right translation operator, rx, on the affine coordinate ring A[G] of G is locally unipotent as an element of the ring of linear endomorphism of A[G]. (Locally unipotent means that its restriction to any finite-dimensional stable subspace of A[G] is unipotent in the usual ring-theoretic sense.)

An affine algebraic group is called unipotent if all its elements are unipotent. Any unipotent algebraic group is isomorphic to a closed subgroup of the group of upper triangular matrices with diagonal entries 1, and conversely any such subgroup is unipotent. In particular any unipotent group is a nilpotent group, though the converse is not true (counterexample: the diagonal matrices of GLn(k)).

For example, the standard representation of $$\mathbb{U}_n$$ on $$k^n$$ with standard basis $$e_i$$ has the fixed vector $$e_1$$.

Definition with representation theory
If a unipotent group acts on an affine variety, all its orbits are closed, and if it acts linearly on a finite-dimensional vector space then it has a non-zero fixed vector. In fact, the latter property characterizes unipotent groups. In particular, this implies there are no non-trivial semisimple representations.

Un
Of course, the group of matrices $$\mathbb{U}_n$$ is unipotent. Using the lower central series
 * $$\mathbb{U}_n = \mathbb{U}_n^{(0)} \supset \mathbb{U}_n^{(1)} \supset \mathbb{U}_n^{(2)} \supset \cdots \supset \mathbb{U}_n^{(m)} = e$$

where
 * $$\mathbb{U}_n^{(1)} = [\mathbb{U}_n,\mathbb{U}_n]$$ and $$\mathbb{U}_n^{(2)} = [\mathbb{U}_n, \mathbb{U}_n^{(1)}]$$

there are associated unipotent groups. For example, on $$n = 4$$, the central series are the matrix groups
 * $$\mathbb{U}_4 = \left\{

\begin{bmatrix} 1 & * & * & * \\ 0 & 1 & * & * \\ 0 & 0 & 1 & * \\ 0 & 0 & 0 & 1 \end{bmatrix} \right\}$$, $$\mathbb{U}_4^{(1)} = \left\{ \begin{bmatrix} 1 & 0 & * & * \\ 0 & 1 & 0 & * \\ 0 & 0 & 1 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 0 & 1 \end{bmatrix} \right\}$$, $$\mathbb{U}_4^{(2)} = \left\{ \begin{bmatrix} 1 & 0 & 0 & * \\ 0 & 1 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 1 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 0 & 1 \end{bmatrix} \right\}$$, and $$\mathbb{U}_4^{(3)} = \left\{ \begin{bmatrix} 1 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 1 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 1 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 0 & 1 \end{bmatrix} \right\}$$ given some induced examples of unipotent groups.

Gan
The additive group $$\mathbb{G}_a$$ is a unipotent group through the embedding
 * $$a \mapsto \begin{bmatrix}

1 & a\\ 0 & 1 \end{bmatrix}$$ Notice the matrix multiplication gives
 * $$\begin{bmatrix}

1 & a \\ 0 & 1 \end{bmatrix} \cdot \begin{bmatrix} 1 & b \\ 0 & 1 \end{bmatrix} = \begin{bmatrix} 1 & a + b \\ 0 & 1 \end{bmatrix}$$ hence this is a group embedding. More generally, there is an embedding $$\mathbb{G}_a^n \to \mathbb{U}_{n+1}$$ from the map
 * $$(a_1,\ldots, a_n) \,\mapsto \begin{bmatrix}

1 & a_1 & a_2 & \cdots & a_{n-1} &a_n \\ 0 & 1 & 0 & \cdots & 0 & 0 \\ \vdots & \vdots & \vdots & & \vdots & \vdots \\ 0 & 0 & 0 & \cdots &1 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 0 & \cdots &0 & 1 \end{bmatrix}$$

Using scheme theory, $$\mathbb{G}_a$$ is given by the functor
 * $$\mathcal{O}:\textbf{Sch}^{op} \to \textbf{Sets}$$

where
 * $$(X,\mathcal{O}_X) \mapsto \mathcal{O}_X(X)$$

Kernel of the Frobenius
Consider the functor $$\mathcal{O}$$ on the subcategory $$\textbf{Sch}/\mathbb{F}_p$$, there is the subfunctor $$\alpha_p$$ where
 * $$\alpha_p(X) = \{ x \in \mathcal{O}(X) : x^p = 0 \}$$

so it is given by the kernel of the Frobenius endomorphism.

Classification of unipotent groups over characteristic 0
Over characteristic 0 there is a nice classification of unipotent algebraic groups with respect to nilpotent Lie algebras. Recall that a nilpotent Lie algebra is a subalgebra of some $$\mathfrak{gl}_n$$ such that the iterated adjoint action eventually terminates to the zero-map. In terms of matrices, this means it is a subalgebra $$\mathfrak{g}$$ of $$\mathfrak{n}_n$$, the matrices with $$a_{ij} = 0$$ for $$i \leq j$$.

Then, there is an equivalence of categories of finite-dimensional nilpotent Lie algebras and unipotent algebraic groups. page 261 This can be constructed using the Baker–Campbell–Hausdorff series $$H(X,Y)$$, where given a finite-dimensional nilpotent Lie algebra, the map
 * $$H:\mathfrak{g}\times\mathfrak{g} \to \mathfrak{g} \text{ where } (X,Y)\mapsto H(X,Y)$$

gives a Unipotent algebraic group structure on $$\mathfrak{g}$$.

In the other direction the exponential map takes any nilpotent square matrix to a unipotent matrix. Moreover, if U is a commutative unipotent group, the exponential map induces an isomorphism from the Lie algebra of U to U itself.

Remarks
Unipotent groups over an algebraically closed field of any given dimension can in principle be classified, but in practice the complexity of the classification increases very rapidly with the dimension, so people tend to give up somewhere around dimension 6.

Unipotent radical
The unipotent radical of an algebraic group G is the set of unipotent elements in the radical of G. It is a connected unipotent normal subgroup of G, and contains all other such subgroups. A group is called reductive if its unipotent radical is trivial. If G is reductive then its radical is a torus.

Decomposition of algebraic groups
Algebraic groups can be decomposed into unipotent groups, multiplicative groups, and abelian varieties, but the statement of how they decompose depends upon the characteristic of their base field.

Characteristic 0
Over characteristic 0 there is a nice decomposition theorem of an algebraic group $$G$$ relating its structure to the structure of a linear algebraic group and an Abelian variety. There is a short exact sequence of groups page 8
 * $$0 \to M\times U \to G \to A \to 0$$

where $$A$$ is an abelian variety, $$M$$ is of multiplicative type (meaning, $$M$$ is, geometrically, a product of tori and algebraic groups of the form $$\mu_n$$) and $$U$$ is a unipotent group.

Characteristic p
When the characteristic of the base field is p there is an analogous statement for an algebraic group $$G$$: there exists a smallest subgroup $$H$$ such that

 * 1) $$G/H$$ is a unipotent group
 * 2) $$H$$ is an extension of an abelian variety $$A$$ by a group $$M$$ of multiplicative type.
 * 3) $$M$$ is unique up to commensurability in $$G$$ and $$A$$ is unique up to isogeny.

Jordan decomposition
Any element g of a linear algebraic group over a perfect field can be written uniquely as the product g = gu  gs of commuting unipotent and semisimple elements gu and gs. In the case of the group GLn(C), this essentially says that any invertible complex matrix is conjugate to the product of a diagonal matrix and an upper triangular one, which is (more or less) the multiplicative version of the Jordan–Chevalley decomposition.

There is also a version of the Jordan decomposition for groups: any commutative linear algebraic group over a perfect field is the product of a unipotent group and a semisimple group.

title: Unipotent


text:
PTI

PTI may refer to:

Arts and entertainment

 * Pardon the Interruption, an American television sports show
 * PTI, a musical group on the WTII Records label

Organizations

 * Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, a Pakistan political party founded in 1996 by Imran Khan
 * Partai Tionghoa Indonesia (Chinese Indonesian Party), a political party in the Dutch East Indies
 * Pennsylvania Transportation Institute, a research unit of Pennsylvania State University's College of Engineering
 * Philippine Tobacco Institute, a Philippine trade association
 * Piedmont Triad International Airport, an American airport
 * Pittsburgh Technical Institute, an American two-year technical college
 * Portugal Telecom International, a division of Portugal Telecom, a Portuguese telecommunications service provider
 * Post-Tensioning Institute, an American non-profit trade organization
 * Powertech Technology Inc., Taiwanese semiconductor assembler
 * Premier Travel Inn, the former name of the British hotel chain Premier Inn
 * Press Trust of India, an Indian news agency, headquartered in Delhi
 * Public Technical Identifiers, the corporation responsible for maintaining the Internet's unique identifiers on behalf of ICANN as a successor to the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority

Science and technology

 * Page-table isolation, a Linux kernel feature that mitigates the Meltdown security vulnerability
 * Palomar Testbed Interferometer, a long-baseline interferometer at the American Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California, US
 * PAMP-triggered immunity, an immunity response to pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMPs) microbial epitopes in plants
 * Proof Tracking Index, used to measure the electrical breakdown (tracking) properties of an insulating material
 * Ti plasmid (pTi), a circular plasmid used in creation of transgenic plants

Other uses

 * Parent-teacher interview, a short conference between students' parents and teachers
 * Physical training instructor, an instructor in physical fitness
 * Pretrial Intervention Program, a program for first-time offenders in New Jersey, US
 * Produce Traceability Initiative, a program to track produce through the supply chain

title: PTI


text:
User talk:Vineet000

Welcome
Welcome!

Hello,, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers: I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~~); this will automatically produce your name and the date. If you need help, check out Where to ask a question, ask me on my talk page, or place  on your talk page and someone will show up shortly to answer your questions. Again, welcome! Feco
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Creating Articles w/ Categories
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title: User talk:Vineet000


text:
Cheung Tze-keung

Cheung Tze-keung (April 7, 1955 – December 5, 1998) was a notorious Hong Kong gangster also known as "Big Spender". He was a kidnapper, robber, arms smuggler and was wanted for murder. He was best known for having masterminded the abduction of Walter Kwok and Victor Li Tzar-kuoi, son of Li Ka-Shing.

He was sentenced to death by a court in Guangzhou and was executed by firing squad on December 5, 1998.

Biography
Cheung was born in Yulin, Guangxi province, and moved to Hong Kong with his family at the age of four.

He acquired the nickname "Big Spender" for his love of lavish living. Cheung created a self-image for himself of a "likeable rogue with a heart of gold," and gave his friends and strangers gifts funded from a crime spree that brought in at least HK$2 billion.

He was said to be a charming man with a taste for fine food and liquor. He reportedly gave away tens of thousands of dollars to a young street painter when in Bangkok. Just before he was arrested, he spent a month in a luxury hotel in Shenzhen during which he showered hotel staff with tips. Even in jail, he reportedly asked wardens for bird's nest soup.

Criminal life
"I haven't the patience to work for a living. In this world, money is the most important thing."

Cheung partnered with Yip Kai-foon in a series of armed robberies. On 22 February 1990, he raided Kai Tak Airport where he hauled a HK$30 million consignment of Rolex wristwatches. On 12 July 1991, Cheung returned to Kai Tak, where he robbed a security van, netting HK$167 million, Cheung was arrested in September 1991 and jailed for 18 years for the security van heist. However, he was acquitted and released after appeal in June 1995 when the judge ruled there was no case against Cheung as the evidence was filled with too many inconsistencies and the security guard who initially identified him recanted his testimony. His associate Yip, however, was sentenced to 41 years in jail.

Kidnappings
"I take unconventional steps to get rich. Money is the most important thing in life but it's only me who can pull off kidnapping tycoons."

On 23 May 1996, he kidnapped Victor Li Tzar-kuoi, son of Li Ka-Shing, and on 29 September 1997, he kidnapped Walter Kwok, chairman of Sun Hung Kai Properties. He reportedly reaped HK$1.038 billion in ransom money from Li Ka-shing, and HK$600 million for Walter Kwok. Cheung admitted he followed Li Ka-shing, then held him hostage in the Li's own house for three days until the ransom was paid. It was believed at the time that these ransoms would merit an entry into the Guinness Book of World Records.

Cheung fled to China in January 1998 after failing to kidnap Chief Secretary for Administration Anson Chan, in retaliation for the jailing of his associate, Yip Kai-foon. Acting on a tip-off, the police discovered 818 kg of explosives in Sheung Shui, a part of Hong Kong, in January 1998 which they attributed to a plan by Cheung to bomb government buildings. Cheung allegedly acquired 960 kg of explosives in 1997 for $200,000 from a man in Macau, the stock was transported to Hong Kong and buried in a deserted container parking area.

Cheung had already fled to Guangdong province in January 1998 under an assumed name, having bribed the police there. He was arrested in August 1998, and his gang of 35 were rounded up by mainland police. Among his gang members were 17 Hong Kong residents and 14 mainlanders.

It was reported at the time of his capture that Cheung planned to kidnap Macau gambling magnate, Stanley Ho. Cheung is known to have lost at least $200 million in Ho's Macau casinos, once losing over $25 million in just one session at the casino.

Criminal trial
Cheung and his gang were tried in connection with a number of crimes including the kidnapping of two Hong Kong tycoons, who remained unnamed in the trial (some reports suggested one victim was Victor Li).

The trial was held in Guangzhou even though the events occurred in Hong Kong. Cheung's lawyer, and other constitutional experts, lobbied the government for the trial to be transferred to Hong Kong, but they were rejected.

The Guangzhou Municipal People's Prosecutor formally charged Cheung and his 35 followers with a series of charges relating to "cross-boundary crime including illegal possession, transporting and smuggling explosives and firearms, robbery and kidnapping". The charges, which were denied by Cheung, included the abduction in 1993 for a four million yuan ransom of a Fujian merchant who had only come forward after Cheung's arrest. The trial began on 8 October 1998. It was reported that Cheung made a full confession on the first day of the trial.

On 12 November 1998, Cheung was convicted and sentenced to death. He was executed by shooting on 5 December 1998 in Guangzhou.

Legal controversy
The trial of a Hong Kong resident in Mainland China engendered a crisis of faith in the judicial independence of Hong Kong, explicit in the Hong Kong Basic Law that had been implemented after the United Kingdom transferred sovereignty to the People's Republic of China in 1997. Grave concerns were expressed by the Bar Association that the Mainland had no jurisdiction over crimes committed in the territory by Hong Kong residents as a matter of Mainland law; the Hong Kong public were concerned that if they commit a crime in Hong Kong, they might have to stand trial in the mainland if arrested there. However, the Chinese Government argued that though the crimes were carried out in Hong Kong, they had been planned in the mainland, so the PRC was entitled to exercise jurisdiction over the case. Under the Chinese Criminal Code, a Chinese national can be tried by a mainland court for crimes committed outside China if the offence warrants imprisonment of three years or more. Officials believed that although a "meagre part" of Cheung's case involved the mainland, it was right he be tried there.

Grenville Cross, Director of Public Prosecutions of Hong Kong, said in a letter that the mainland judiciary could not return Hong Kong residents to Hong Kong before they had been tried for crimes allegedly committed on the mainland. Cheung's lawyer suggested there probably would have been insufficient evidence to convict his client in Hong Kong without victims' statements.

The failure of the victims to report the case to the Hong Kong Police had left them bereft of evidence to request the repatriation of Cheung. Hong Kong Secretary for Security Regina Ip regretted that the tycoons had reported the abductions to the PRC and not to the Hong Kong authorities. She said there was no formal cross-border agreement on the transfer of offenders, but said that it would not be unprecedented to do so. Legal experts suggested that Hong Kong courts would not be able to convict in the absence of witness or victims' testimonies or other evidence, even with a full confession, as confessions can be withdrawn. There were some who maintained that the Li and Kwok families could get their revenge on Cheung since a trial in the mainland could guarantee the death penalty, whereas capital punishment was not in force in Hong Kong.

Cultural influences
Fictionalized accounts of Cheung Chi Keung's kidnapping of the wealthy have been made into movies:
 * Operation Billionaires (, 1998), portrayed by Simon Yam.
 * Big Spender (轟天綁架大富豪, 1999), portrayed by Ray Lui Leung-Wai.
 * Trivisa (樹大招風, 2016), portrayed by Jordan Chan
 * Chasing the Dragon II: Wild Wild Bunch (追龍II：賊王, 2019), portrayed by Tony Leung Ka-fai

title: Cheung Tze-keung


text:
User talk:Seattleu542

Welcome
Welcome!

Hello,, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers: I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~~); this will automatically produce your name and the date. If you need help, check out Where to ask a question, ask me on my talk page, or place  on your talk page and someone will show up shortly to answer your questions. Again, welcome! Feco
 * The five pillars of Wikipedia
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 * Manual of Style

Creating Articles w/ Categories
Good work creating new articles. When you create things, it helps tremendously to assign them to an accurate category (see WP:CG for info). If you're really not sure about categories, at least assign your new articles a stub category (see WP:SC for info). By assigning a category, you help make sure your new articles don't get lost as 'orphans' that are not associated with related topics. Feco

title: User talk:Seattleu542


text:
Cary Lu

Cary Lu (December 4, 1945 – September 23, 1997) was an American writer specialising in the Apple Macintosh platform.

Early life
Born in Qingdao, China, Lu arrived in the United States at the age of three and grew up in California. He studied physics at University of California, Berkeley, and eventually earned a Ph.D. in biology from the California Institute of Technology.

Television career
Lu worked in television for several years on projects for NBC and CBS News, developed short films for Sesame Street and other children's programs on PBS and was the science and technology editor for the Children's Television Workshop.

He was part of the group that started Nova for PBS and worked on science and technology education projects for the governments of Australia, Kenya, and Algeria.

Writing career
Lu was a best-selling author of Macintosh-related books.

Possibly one of his most well-known works is The Apple Macintosh Book, the first edition of which was released almost simultaneously with the Macintosh 128K in 1984. The second edition covered the Macintosh 512K, while the third edition covered six Macintosh models in all. The fourth edition of the book (published in 1992) covered 21 models (including discontinued models, such as the Macintosh 128K), and even included mentions of the Macintosh Classic series, the Macintosh Quadra series, the PowerBooks, and System 7.

Lu was founding managing editor of High Technology, technology editor for Inc. and a columnist on future technology for Inc. Technology. He wrote columns and articles for Macworld magazine and other computer and technology publications.

His final book, The Race for Bandwidth: Understanding Data Transmission, was finished by friends, the technology writers Adam C. Engst and Stephen Manes, and published posthumously.

Death
Cary Lu died of cancer at the age of 51.

Miscellaneous
While the first edition of Katie Hafners and Matthew Lyons famous book about the history of the Internet (Where Wizards stay up late, 1996) was solely dedicated to J. C. R. Licklider, the 2003 edition was dedicated to Cary Lu as well, who had died in 1997.

title: Cary Lu


text:
Talk:Raffaella Carrà

Untitled
Take the photo from the Italian language page. 24.126.199.129 19:31, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

Italiano
Use Raffaella Carrà for more info. 24.126.199.129

Comments
She was born in Bellaria.

No. Traslation from this [] interview is: "Bologna is my born place [and of her father], Bellaria is the town of my mother to which I'm deeply linked".

Translation
"A far l'amore comincia tu" ("Start Making Love Each Other") Such paragraph was in the article, although it isn't the actual translation of Italian. Some author had been playing so with other translations of this article, putting obscene meanings (which weren't at all), of which I have reverted the Spanish ones. However, I don't know the exact translation of this one... anyone? theweirdalien (talk) 16:20, 13 September 2008 (UTC)theweirdalien

No... It had been a problem that they had been using electronic translation for the titles. Plainly, someone with Italian knowledge should check the aforementioned one. Nonetheless... I'm putting it back into the article. This would be a warning, merely, so someone checks on this. theweirdalien (talk) 16:28, 13 September 2008 (UTC)theweirdalien

 * It means "You (be the one to) start making love". As in, be bold and don't wait for your partner to start. You're welcome 2001:8F8:1127:2A7A:7DD0:40D4:AF5D:99DA (talk) 11:17, 3 June 2022 (UTC)

Tag
I don't think this tag is fair, as it's a well sourced article. Ananicolahahn (talk) 19:01, 6 August 2009 (UTC)ananicolahahn

Contrasting information on this article and the article for Prisencolinensinainciusol
Within this article, Raffaella Carrà is described as "the female vocalist" on the song Prisencolinensinainciusol. However, the Prisencolinensinainciusol article says she is lip-syncing over vocals performed by Adriano Celentano's wife.

I can not correct the error, as I can not be sure which is accurate, having visited these pages on a fact-finding mission myself. Please can a knowledgeable participant step in? 92.232.213.188 (talk) 17:43, 7 November 2011 (UTC)

External links modified
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A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for speedy deletion
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Discography
Do it, do it again appears to be missing. Mjroots (talk) 16:11, 6 July 2021 (UTC)

title: Talk:Raffaella Carrà