query: Israel hosts a population of asylum seekers including illegal migrants from Sudan.

pos: Israel Israel ( -LSB- ˈɪzreiəl -RSB- ; ) , officially the State of Israel ( -LSB- mediˈnat jisʁaˈʔel -RSB- دَوْلَة إِسْرَائِيل -LSB- dawlat ʔisraːˈʔiːl -RSB- ) , is a country in the Middle East , on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea . It has land borders with Lebanon to the north , Syria to the northeast , Jordan on the east , the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip to the east and west , respectively , and Egypt to the southwest . The country contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area . Israel 's economy and technology center is Tel Aviv , while its seat of government and proclaimed capital is Jerusalem , although the state 's sovereignty over East Jerusalem is internationally unrecognized.The Jerusalem Law states that `` Jerusalem , complete and united , is the capital of Israel '' and the city serves as the seat of the government , home to the President 's residence , government offices , supreme court , and parliament . United Nations Security Council Resolution 478 ( 20 August 1980 ; 14 -- 0 , U.S. abstaining ) declared the Jerusalem Law `` null and void '' and called on member states to withdraw their diplomatic missions from Jerusalem . The United Nations and all member nations refuse to accept the Jerusalem Law ( see ) and maintain their embassies in other cities such as Tel Aviv , Ramat Gan , and Herzliya ( see the CIA Factbook and Map of Israel ) . The U.S. Congress subsequently adopted the Jerusalem Embassy Act , which said that the U.S. embassy should be relocated to Jerusalem and that it should be recognized as the capital of Israel . However , the US Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel concluded that the provisions of the act `` invade exclusive presidential authorities in the field of foreign affairs and are unconstitutional '' . Since passage of the act , all presidents serving in office have determined that moving forward with the relocation would be detrimental to U.S. national security concerns and opted to issue waivers suspending any action on this front . The Palestinian Authority sees East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state . The city 's final status awaits future negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority ( see `` Negotiating Jerusalem , '' Palestine -- Israel Journal ) . See Positions on Jerusalem for more information .   In 1947 , the United Nations adopted a Partition Plan for Mandatory Palestine recommending the creation of independent Arab and Jewish states and an internationalized Jerusalem . The plan was accepted by the Jewish Agency for Palestine , and rejected by Arab leaders . Next year , the Jewish Agency declared `` the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel , to be known as the State of Israel . '' Israel has since fought several wars with neighboring Arab states , in the course of which it has occupied territories including the West Bank , Golan Heights and the Gaza Strip ( still considered occupied after 2005 disengagement ) . It extended its laws to the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem , but not the West Bank . Israel 's occupation of the Palestinian territories is the world 's longest military occupation in modern times . Efforts to resolve the Israeli -- Palestinian conflict have not resulted in peace . However , peace treaties between Israel and both Egypt and Jordan have successfully been implemented .   The population of Israel , as defined by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , was estimated in to be people . It is the world 's only Jewish-majority state , with 74.8 % being designated as Jewish . The country 's second largest group of citizens are Arabs , at 20.8 % ( including the Druze and most East Jerusalem Arabs ) . The great majority of Israeli Arabs are Sunni Muslims , including significant numbers of semi-settled Negev Bedouins ; the rest are Christians and Druze . Other minorities include Arameans , Armenians , Assyrians , Black Hebrew Israelites , Circassians , Maronites and Samaritans . Israel also hosts a significant population of non-citizen foreign workers and asylum seekers from Africa and Asia , including illegal migrants from Sudan , Eritrea and other Sub-Saharan Africans .   In its Basic Laws , Israel defines itself as a Jewish and democratic state . Israel is a representative democracy with a parliamentary system , proportional representation and universal suffrage . The prime minister is head of government and the Knesset is the legislature . Israel is a developed country and an OECD member , with the 35th-largest economy in the world by nominal gross domestic product . The country benefits from a highly skilled workforce and is among the most educated countries in the world with one of the highest percentage of its citizens holding a tertiary education degree . The country has the highest standard of living in the Middle East and the third highest in Asia , and has one of the highest life expectancies in the world .

neg: African Refugees Development Center The African Refugee Development Center ( ARDC ) , founded in 2004 , is a non-governmental organization founded by African asylum seekers and Israeli citizens in order to assist African asylum seekers in Israel . Its goals include :   Promote humane , fair and effective policies on the reception , protection and integration of asylum-seekers and refugees in Israel ;  Assist refugees and asylum-seekers towards self-sufficiency as independent , productive and contributing members of society ;  Facilitate the participation and empowerment of refugees and asylum seekers through their inclusion in education possibilities , the labor market , and health care ;  Empower local refugee communities through assisting in the development of training and capacity building programs , social and cultural activities , and refugee participation in civic decision-making processes as well as in general Israeli life .   In early 2007 , the ARDC started to work towards a solution to the growing need for accommodation , humanitarian aid , and case management for newly arriving refugees and asylum seekers into Israel . The ARDC began to operate emergency shelters for new arrivals .

neg: The Founding Myths of Israel The Founding Myths of Israel : Nationalism , Socialism , and the Making of the Jewish State is a book by Zeev Sternhell . It was published in Hebrew in 1995 , in French in 1996 and in English in 1998 . The stated purpose of the book is an analysis of the ideology and actions of labor Zionism in the period before the 1948 Arab-Israeli War . In that period labor Zionism 's leaders dominated the institutions of the Yishuv , the Jewish community in Palestine . Sternhell 's thesis is that the actions and decisions of the leaders of labor Zionism were guided by a nationalist ideology , and not by a socialist ideology . In the `` Introduction '' and the `` Epilogue '' Sternhell extrapolates this attitude of the leaders to Israeli politics and argues that nationalist policies have overshadowed social and liberal policies for a long time , and are still endangering Israel 's ability to develop as a free and open society .   Questions that Sternhell investigates are :  Was a unique synthesis between socialism and nationalism ever achieved in Palestine ?  Did the founders intend to create an alternative to bourgeois society , or did they renounce the social objective from the beginning as incompatible ?  Was equality a genuine goal , however longterm , or was it only a mobilizing myth ?  Was the nationalism of Labor Zionism and its practical expression , the conquering of the land , in any way special ?  Did it have a universalistic , humanistic and rationalistic basis that distinguished it from the nationalism flourishing in Eastern Europe ?  Did it ever have the potential to overcome the religious substance of Jewish nationalism , and thus establish a liberal , secular and open society , at peace with itself and its neighbours ?  Sternhell 's answer to the first five questions is `` no '' .   The book has received considerable attention . It was the topic of a conference at the distinguished Van Leer Institute in Jerusalem and the subject of the lead review in the weekly literary supplement of Ha'Aretz newspaper .

neg: 2014 American immigration crisis The 2014 American immigration crisis refers to the surge in unaccompanied children from Central America seeking entrance to the United States . The surge has increased rapidly , doubling in volume each year , reaching crisis proportions in 2014 when tens of thousands of women and children from El Salvador , Guatemala , and Honduras migrated to the United States . Many of the children had no parent/legal guardian available to provide care or physical custody and quickly overwhelmed local border patrols . , the number of unaccompanied children apprehended at the U.S. border had dropped by about 40 % . The proportion of migrants from Guatemala had increased , while that of migrants from El Salvador and Honduras had decreased .

neg: Al-Fashir Al Fashir , Al-Fashir or El Fasher is the capital city of North Darfur , Sudan . It is a large town in the Darfur region of northwestern Sudan , 195 km northeast of Nyala , Sudan .   A historical caravan post , Al-Fashir is located at an elevation of about 700 m . The town serves as an agricultural marketing point for the cereals and fruits grown in the surrounding region . Al-Fashir is linked by road with both Al-Junaynah and Umm Kaddadah . Al-Fashir had 264,734 residents , an increase from 2001 , when the population was estimated to be 178,500 .   Due to the nearby Abu Shouk and Al Salam IDP camps with the influx of humanitarian aid from the United Nations as a result of the Darfur crisis , the city has experienced a significant economic and population boom . Rents and retail sales increased , including the selling of bottled water and the opening of a pizza parlor to cater to the demand from western aid workers . The number of gas stations has tripled in three years as a result of the increase in the amount of automobiles in the city . Employment opportunities also increased as the United Nations offered jobs to citizens . Economics analyst Adam Ahmed stated that the `` people -LSB- of Al-Fashir -RSB- are beginning to think in a more business-minded way '' to make the most of their situation .   Al Fashir University was created in 1990 by decree of President Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir , and was officially opened in February 1991 in premises west of El Fasher Airport and south of the El Fashir School .

neg: Tourism in South Sudan South Sudan , a country in northeastern Africa , became an independent country in 2011 . South Sudan has the world 's second largest animal migration and therefore is considered a good place for ecotourism , but the lack of infrastructure for tourism and ongoing civil war are considered the challenges for the tourism industry in South Sudan .

neg: Palestinians The Palestinian people ( الشعب الفلسطيني , ash-sha ` b al-Filasṭīnī ) , also referred to as Palestinians ( الفلسطينيون , al-Filasṭīniyyūn , ) or Palestinian Arabs ( العربي الفلسطيني , al - ` arabi il-filastini ) , are an ethnonational group comprising the modern descendants of the peoples who have lived in Palestine over the centuries , including Jews and Samaritans , and who today are largely culturally and linguistically Arab . Despite various wars and exoduses ( such as that in 1948 ) , roughly one half of the world 's Palestinian population continues to reside in historic Palestine , the area encompassing the West Bank , the Gaza Strip and Israel . In this combined area , , Palestinians constituted 49 % of all inhabitants , encompassing the entire population of the Gaza Strip ( 1.865 million ) , the majority of the population of the West Bank ( approximately 2,785,000 versus close to 500,000 Jewish Israeli citizens which includes about 200,000 in East Jerusalem ) , and 20.8 % of the population of Israel proper as Arab citizens of Israel . Many are Palestinian refugees or internally displaced Palestinians , including more than a million in the Gaza Strip , three-quarters of a million in the West Bank , and about a quarter of a million in Israel proper . Of the Palestinian population who live abroad , known as the Palestinian diaspora , more than half are stateless lacking citizenship in any country . Between 2.1 and 3.24 million of the diaspora population live in neighboring Jordan , over 1 million live between Syria and Lebanon , a quarter of a million in Saudi Arabia , with Chile 's half a million representing the largest concentration outside the Arab world .   Palestinian Christians and Muslims constituted 90 % of the population of Palestine on the eve of the third wave of Jewish immigration under the post-WW1 British Mandatory Authority , opposition to which spurred the consolidation of a unified national identity , fragmented as it was by regional , class , religious and family differences . The history of a distinct Palestinian national identity is a disputed issue amongst scholars . Legal historian Assaf Likhovski states that the prevailing view is that Palestinian identity originated in the early decades of the 20th century , when an embryonic desire among Palestinians for self-government in the face of generalized fears that Zionism would lead to a Jewish state and the dispossession of the Arab majority crystallised among most editors , Christian and Muslim , of local newspapers . `` Palestinian '' was used to refer to the nationalist concept of a Palestinian people by Palestinian Arabs in a limited way until World War I . After the creation of the State of Israel , the exodus of 1948 , and more so after the exodus of 1967 , the term came to signify not only a place of origin , but also the sense of a shared past and future in the form of a Palestinian state . Modern Palestinian identity now encompasses the heritage of all ages from biblical times up to the Ottoman period .   Founded in 1964 , the Palestine Liberation Organization ( PLO ) is an umbrella organization for groups that represent the Palestinian people before the international community . The Palestinian National Authority , officially established as a result of the Oslo Accords , is an interim administrative body nominally responsible for governance in Palestinian population centers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip . Since 1978 , the United Nations has observed an annual International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People . According to Perry Anderson , it is estimated that half of the population in the Palestinian territories are refugees and that they have collectively suffered approximately $ 300 billion in property losses due to Israeli confiscations , at 2008-9 prices .

neg: List of violent incidents in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, 2007 Timeline of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians in 2007 . It includes would-be attacks that were foiled and thwarted by Israeli security forces .   The shaky six-month cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinians collapsed when the military wing of Hamas , one of the leading Palestinian factions , resumed rocket attacks against Israel on May 15 in an apparent attempt to draw Israel into the ongoing Palestinian factional violence . Hundreds of rockets were fired since then , many of them landing around Sderot , causing several frightened residents to flee and others be treated for wounds and shock .   In the months since November 2006 , smaller Palestinian factions continued to fire rockets at Israel . They included Islamic Jihad , which rejected the cease-fire , and Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades , which is nominally affiliated with the mainstream Fatah faction headed by the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas . Israel said it was ending its policy of restraint against the rocket fire on May 16 . Since then , the air force has struck mainly at Hamas structures and cells that the army said were involved in terrorist activity .   Representatives from some Palestinian factions have denounced the rocket attacks . A Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine official called it `` stupid '' , and Fatah president Mahmoud Abbas called it `` pointless and needless '' after a meeting with then European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana . The rival Hamas party rejected the statement , saying `` Abbas hates the rockets just like we hate the Jews . '' Hamas suspects that Israel 's attacks are part of an effort to weaken Hamas in favor of Fatah . Then Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert said that no one involved in terrorist activities is immune . The position of the United States State Department is that the conflict `` all started with Hamas not only attacking the legitimate security forces in the Gaza Strip , but also starting a stepped-up campaign of rocket launches against Israel . '' Israel does not target Fatah 's security forces , although it has had clashes with the al Aqsa Martyrs ' Brigades , a violent offshoot of the group .

neg: Juba Conference (1947) The Juba Conference was a June 1947 meeting attended by British and Sudanese delegates in the city of Juba , then regional capital of Equatoria Province in South Sudan ( and today the national capital of South Sudan ) .   Britain organised the conference to combine northern and southern Sudan into one political entity . Until then , the two sectors were essentially treated by the British as two separate colonies because of ethnic , religious and cultural differences . Northern Sudan was heavily Arabized and had a fairly well-structured political and economic infrastructure . Northerners practiced Islam and were relatively well-educated . Southern Sudan was mainly composed of various Nilotic tribes who practiced a mixture of Christian and traditional beliefs . Economically , it did not possess the organization of northern Sudan .   The Juba Conference agreed that northern and southern Sudan would constitute one state and that a Legislative Assembly would represent the entire colony . However , southern Sudanese representatives had several reservations about the resolutions , largely because they were in an inferior position in regards to their region 's lack of educational and political experience .   Their apprehension was realised when 800 administrative posts were vacated by the British in preparation for Sudanese `` self-rule '' ; only four of the government posts went to Southerners . In discussions to determine the future of the modern state of Sudan , the southern provinces were largely excluded from the political process .   This disparity lead to the First and Second Sudanese Civil Wars , eventually resulting , in 2011 , in the Southern provinces becoming an independent state , the Republic of South Sudan .

neg: 1949–56 Palestinian exodus The 1949 -- 1956 Palestinian exodus was the continuation of the 1947-49 exodus of Palestinian Arabs from Israeli-controlled territory after the signing of the ceasefire agreements . This period of the exodus was characterised predominantly by forced expulsion during the consolidation of the state of Israel and ever increasing tension along the ceasefire lines ultimately leading to the 1956 Suez Crisis .   Between 1949 and 1950 , according to historian Benny Morris , Israel had displaced and expelled between 30,000 and 40,000 Palestinians and Bedouin . Many villages along the ceasefire lines and the Lebanon border area were also leveled , many emptied villages were resettled by new Jewish immigrants and demobilized Israeli military forces .   Israel argued this was motivated by security considerations linked with the situation at the borders . During the consolidation period , Israel was more intent on gaining control of the demilitarized zones on the Syrian , Jordanian and Egyptian fronts than on her image abroad .

neg: Jewish Underground The Jewish Underground ( המחתרת היהודית HaMakhteret HaYehudit ) , or in abbreviated form , simply makhteret , was a Jewish terrorist organization formed by prominent members of the Israeli political movement Gush Emunim that existed from 1979 to 1984 . Two issues catalyzed the establishment of the underground : One was the signing of the Camp David Accords , which led to the Egypt -- Israel Peace Treaty in 1979 , and which the movement , opposed to the peace process , wished to block , viewing it as the first step in the establishment of a Palestinian state in what Jewish settlers call `` Judea and Samaria '' . A second element was the settlement project , which , in bringing two distinct ethnic communities into closer proximity , led to an uptick in hostilities that brought about a growing emphasis on the existential threat in both communities . The Jewish underground developed two operational objectives : One consisted of a plot to blow up the Dome of the Rock , while the other branch concentrated on both avenging acts of Palestinian violence against settlers and of establishing a punitive deterrence . Some understood the terrorist acts as a means of inducing Palestinians to flee their homeland , and parallels are made with it to the Terror Against Terror movement , which had a similar aim . Robert Friedman stated that the Makhteret was `` the most violent anti-Arab terrorist organization since the birth of Israel '' .   Members of the Jewish Underground were eventually rounded up and brought to trial on charges that included violating the 1948 Prevention of Terrorism Decree . The charge of membership of a terrorist organization was dropped against 10 out of the 27 in a plea bargain . Most served short terms , and the ringleaders were pardoned and released in 1990 .

neg: Syrians in Sweden Syrians in Sweden include migrants from Syria to Sweden , as well as their descendants . The number of Syrians ( by Syrian citizenship ) in Sweden is estimated at around 98,216 people in March 2015 and consists mainly of refugees of the Syrian Civil War .

neg: Palestinian territories `` Palestinian territories '' and `` occupied Palestinian territories '' ( OPT or oPt ) are descriptions often used to describe the West Bank ( including East Jerusalem ) and the Gaza Strip , which are occupied or otherwise under the control of Israel . Israeli governments have maintained that the area involved is within territorial dispute . The extent of the territories , while subject to future negotiations , have frequently been defined by the Green Line .   The term `` Palestinian Territory , Occupied '' was used by the United Nations ( UN ) and other international organizations between 1998 to 2013 in order to refer to areas controlled by the Palestinian National Authority . In December 2012 , UN Secretariat communications replaced this by the term State of Palestine . The ISO adopted the name change in 2013 . But , as of August 2015 , the UN Security Council continues to treat Palestine as a non-sovereign entity ; This prevents its admission to UN General Assembly membership .   Israel occupied the territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the Six-Day War of 1967 and has since maintained control . Previously , these territories had been occupied by Jordan and Egypt , respectively , since the 1948 founding of Israel . In 1980 , Israel officially absorbed East Jerusalem and has proclaimed the whole of Jerusalem to be its capital . The inclusion , though never formally amounting to legal annexation , was condemned internationally and declared `` null and void '' by the United Nations Security Council . The Palestinian National Authority , the United Nations , the international legal and humanitarian bodies and the international community regard East Jerusalem as part of the West Bank , and consequently a part of the Palestinian territories . The Palestinian National Authority never exercised sovereignty over the area , although it housed its offices in Orient House and several other buildings as an assertion of its sovereign interests .   Israel shut them down in response to the Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing . Israeli sovereignty , however , has not been recognized by any country , since the unilateral annexation of territory occupied during war contravenes the Fourth Geneva Convention . The cost of the occupation for Israel over four decades ( 1967 -- 2007 ) is estimated to amount to $ 50 billion . The World Bank estimates the annual cost in 2013 to the Palestinian economy of Israeli occupation at $ 3.4 billion .   In 1988 , with the Palestine Liberation Organization ( PLO ) intention to declare a Palestinian State , Jordan renounced all territorial claims to the West Bank , including East Jerusalem . Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988 , 135 UN Member Nations have recognized the State of Palestine , comprising the Palestinian territories . It has not been recognized by Israel and some Western nations , including the United States .   In 1993 , following the Oslo Accords , parts of the territories politically came under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian National Authority ( Areas A and B ) . Israel still exercises full military control and , civil control over 61 % of the West Bank ( Area C ) . The Oslo Accords established access to the sea for Gaza within 20 nautical miles from the shore . The Berlin Commitment of 2002 reduced this to 12 mi . In October 2006 Israel imposed a 6-mile limit , and at the conclusion of the Gaza War restricted access to a 3-nautical-mile limit , beyond which a no-go zone exists . As a result , more than 3,000 Palestinian fishermen are denied access to 85 % of the maritime areas agreed to in 1995 . The majority of the Dead Sea area is off-limits to Palestinian use , and Palestinians are denied access to its coast line .   Israel disengaged from the Gaza Strip in 2005 , however the international community considers the West Bank and the Gaza Strip still to be occupied by Israel . The Hamas takeover of Gaza in 2007 divided the Palestinian territories politically . Abbas 's Fatah largely ruled the West Bank and was recognized internationally as the official Palestinian Authority ( see : Fatah-Hamas conflict ) . In 2014 , the two political groups agreed to hold elections and form a compromise unity government . The 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict intervened ; however , the unity government survived .

neg: Edom Edom ( -LSB- ˈiːdəm -RSB- or -LSB- ˈiː.dʌm -RSB- ; Assyrian : Udumi ; Syriac : ܐܕܘܡ ) is a country located initially in Transjordan , between Ammon to the north , the Dead Sea and the Arabah to the west , and the Arabian desert to the south and east . Edom appears in written sources relating to the late Bronze Age and to the Iron Age in the Levant , such as the Hebrew Bible and Egyptian and Mesopotamian records . In classical antiquity the cognate name Idumea was used for a smaller area in the same general region .   Edom and Idumea are two related but distinct terms relating to a historically contiguous population , but two separate , if adjacent , territories occupied at different periods of their history by the Edomites/Idumeans . The Edomites first established a kingdom ( `` Edom '' ) in the southern area of modern Jordan , and later migrated into southern parts of the Kingdom of Judah ( `` Idumea '' , or modern southern Israel/Negev ) when Judah was first weakened , then destroyed by the Babylonians in the 6th century BC .   Edom is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible , but also in a list of the Egyptian pharaoh Seti I from c. 1215 BC , and in the chronicle of a campaign by Ramses III ( r. 1186 -- 1155 BC ) . The Edomites , who have been identified archaeologically , were a Semitic people who probably arrived in the region around the 14th century BC . Archaeological investigation showed that the country flourished between the 13th and 8th centuries BC , and was destroyed after a period of decline in the 6th century BC by the Babylonians . After the loss of the kingdom , the Edomites were pushed westward towards southern Judah by nomadic tribes coming from the east ; among these were the Nabateans , who first appear in the historical annals of the 4th century BC and already establish their own kingdom in what used to be Edom by the first half of the 2nd century BC . More recent excavations show that the process of Edomite settlement in the southern parts of the Kingdom of Judah and parts of the Negev desert down to Timna had started already before the destruction of the kingdom by Nebuchadnezzar II in 587/86 BCE , both by peaceful penetration and by military means , taking advantage of the already weakened state of Judah .   Once pushed out of their territory , the Edomites settled during the Persian period in an area comprising the southern hills of Judea down to the area north of Be'er Sheva . Here the people appear under the graecized form of their old name , as Idumeans or Idumaeans , and their new territory is called Idumea or Idumaea ( Greek : Ἰδουμαία , Idoumaía ; Latin : Idūmaea ) , a term used in New Testament times .

neg: Israeli passport The Israeli passport ( דרכון ישראלי -LSB- darkon Israeli -RSB- ) is a travel document issued to Israeli citizens to enable them to travel outside Israel , and entitles the bearer to the protection of Israel 's consular officials overseas .   According to the 2017 Visa Restrictions Index , Israeli citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 148 countries and territories , ranking the Israeli passport 24th in terms of travel freedom .   Israeli citizens are allowed to hold passports of other countries , but are required to use the Israeli passport when entering and leaving Israel . This regulation was introduced officially in 2002 , after having been legally contested on several occasions .

neg: Supreme Court (Sudan) The Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority in Sudan , located in Khartoum . As of 2011 , the court consists of 70 judges operating through panels each composed of three judges , with a senior president . The members of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President of Sudan who is advised on the matter by the supreme council of the judiciary , members of the courts of appeal and other people with the required qualifications . Decisions made in the court are reached by the majority and are only subject to revision `` when the chief justice deems that an infringement of sharia laws had taken place . '' If this is the case `` he convenes a five Supreme Court judges panel the majority of whom not must have participated in reaching the disputed decision in order to resolve the matter . ''   In October 2010 , seven Indonesian judges joined a three-week training course in Sudan to learn about economic sharia ( syariah ) ( Islamic laws ) , given that Sudan is reportedly known as a pioneer in the syariah field . The Indonesian Supreme Court and the Sudanese Supreme Court will sign a Memorandum of Understanding ( MOU ) in September 2011 .   With the new independence of South Sudan , supreme authority in South Sudan has since passed to the South Sudan Supreme Court in Juba , a court which had been planned since at least 2005 .

neg: Syrians in the United Arab Emirates Syrians in the United Arab Emirates include migrants from Syria to the United Arab Emirates , as well as their descendants . A large number of Syrians live in the UAE . The number of Syrians in the United Arab Emirates is estimated at around 242,000 estimated ( 2015 ) and are mainly Syrian expatriates who have overstayed in the United Arab Emirates .

neg: Arabs in the Republic of Macedonia Arabs in the Republic of Macedonia are the people from Arab countries , particularly Lebanon , Syria , the Palestinian Territories , Iraq , Jordan and also small groups from Egypt , Algeria , Tunisia , Morocco , Libya and Sudan , who emigrated from their native nations and currently reside in Macedonia . Most Arab Macedonians are of Lebanese or Syrian origin , аs a result of the fact that they were the first Arabs to arrive in Macedonia .   In addition , Macedonia has people from Arab countries , who have the status of refugees ( Refugees of the Syrian civil war and Iraqi refugees ) or illegal immigrants ( Algerians of mainly Berber descent and usually mistakenly called Arabs ) trying to immigrate to Western Europe .

neg: Palestinian Jews Palestinian Jew is the term used to refer to a Jewish inhabitant of Palestine ( known in Hebrew as Eretz Israel , the `` Land of Israel '' ) prior to the establishment of the modern state of Israel .   The common term for the Jewish community of Ottoman Palestine during the 19th century , and British Mandatory Palestine prior to the establishment of the State of Israel is Yishuv ( `` settlement '' ) . A distinction is drawn between the `` New Yishuv '' , largely composed of and descended from immigrants after the First Aliyah in 1881 , and the `` Old Yishuv '' , the pre-existing Jewish community of Palestine prior to the First Aliyah .   In addition to applying to Jews who lived in Palestine during the British Mandate era , the term `` Palestinian Jews '' has also been applied to Jewish residents of Southern Syria , the southern part of the Ottoman province of Syria , and there are scholarly instances of referring to the Jews of the Palaestina Prima and Palaestina Secunda provinces ( 4th to 7th centuries CE ) of the Byzantine Empire in Late Antiquity as `` Palestinian Jews '' .   After the establishment of Israel in 1948 , the Jews of Mandatory Palestine became Israeli citizens , and the term `` Palestinian Jews '' has largely fallen into disuse , in favor of the term Israeli Jews .

neg: Middle East nuclear weapon free zone The Middle East nuclear weapon free zone ( MENWFZ ) is a proposed agreement similar to other nuclear-weapon-free zones in other regions . Steps towards the establishment of such a zone began in the 1960s led to a joint declaration by Egypt and Iran in 1974 which resulted in a General Assembly resolution ( broadened in 1990 through the Mubarak Initiative to cover all weapons of mass destruction ) . Following the 1995 NPT Review Conference , the International Atomic Energy Agency ( IAEA ) held a series of meetings involving experts and academics to consider ways to advance this process .   Such a zone would strengthen the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty ( NPT ) , would help to promote global nuclear disarmament and would also help the Middle East peace process as substantial confidence-building measures .   The United Nations Security Council Resolution 687 ( the ceasefire ending the Gulf War ) recognizes the goal of establishing the MENWFZ ( para 14 ) .   For the Egyptian government ( until the political changes of 2011 ) , a MENWFZ was seen as a central source of pressure on Israel to relinquish its ambiguous nuclear policy , and to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty ( NPT ) . Until the Iranian nuclear program , Israel was believed to be the only Mideast country to have a nuclear deterrence capability , developed in the 1960s . As Avner Cohen , Gerald Steinberg and other experts have noted , Israeli policy has emphasized the link between nuclear demilitarization and a comprehensive peace settlement including Palestinian issues and with countries and potential threats in the region , including Syria and Iran . Israel maintains a veil of `` studied ambiguity '' ( `` amimut '' ) about its nuclear arsenal , and has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty .   Four countries in the Middle East have been found in non-compliance with their IAEA safeguards obligations under the NPT : Iraq , Libya , Iran , and Syria . Of these cases , Iran and Syria remain unresolved .   Following pressure from Egypt and the Arab League , the 2010 NPT Review Conference called for holding a conference on a MENWFZ which would primarily press Israel to end its policy of a ambiguity . Finland planned to host such an event in 2012 . However , no agreement was reached on the agenda and other issues , and the conference was called off in November 2012 .   An international group of concerned citizens , including former members of the Israeli Knesset , responded to the lack of progress in official talks by organizing an International Conference For A WMD-Free Middle East . It was held in Haifa in December 2013 .

neg: Crime in Israel Crime in Israel is present in various forms which include drug trafficking , arms trafficking , burglary , car theft , human trafficking , etc. .


query: The American Broadcasting Company has a nickname.

pos: American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company ( ABC ) is an American English language commercial broadcast television network that is owned by the Disney -- ABC Television Group , a subsidiary of the Disney Media Networks division of The Walt Disney Company . The network is headquartered on Columbus Avenue and West 66th Street in Manhattan , New York City . There are additional major offices and production facilities elsewhere in New York City , as well as in Los Angeles and Burbank , California .   Since 2007 , when ABC Radio ( also known as Cumulus Media Networks ) was sold to Citadel Broadcasting , ABC has reduced its broadcasting operations almost exclusively to television . The fifth-oldest major broadcasting network in the world and the youngest of the Big Three television networks , ABC is often nicknamed as `` The Alphabet Network '' , as its initialism also represents the first three letters of the English alphabet , in order .   ABC originally launched on October 12 , 1943 , as a radio network , separated from and serving as the successor to the NBC Blue Network , which had been purchased by Edward J. Noble . It extended its operations to television in 1948 , following in the footsteps of established broadcast networks CBS and NBC . In the mid-1950s , ABC merged with United Paramount Theatres , a chain of movie theaters that formerly operated as a subsidiary of Paramount Pictures . Leonard Goldenson , who had been the head of UPT , made the new television network profitable by helping develop and greenlight many successful series . In the 1980s , after purchasing an 80 % interest in cable sports channel ESPN , the network 's corporate parent , American Broadcasting Companies , Inc. , merged with Capital Cities Communications , owner of several print publications , and television and radio stations . In 1996 , most of Capital Cities/ABC 's assets were purchased by The Walt Disney Company .   The television network has eight owned-and-operated and over 232 affiliated television stations throughout the United States and its territories . Most Canadians have access to at least one U.S.-based ABC affiliate , either over-the-air ( in areas located within proximity to the Canada -- United States border ) or through a cable , satellite or IPTV provider , although most ABC programs are subject to simultaneous substitution regulations imposed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission that allow pay television providers to replace an American station 's signal with the feed of a Canadian broadcaster to protect domestic programming rights and advertising revenue . ABC News provides news and features content for select radio stations owned by Citadel Broadcasting , which purchased the ABC Radio properties in 2007 .

neg: List of college athletic programs in Washington, D.C. The main article is College sports .   Notes :  This list is in a tabular format , with columns arranged in the following order , from left to right :  Athletic team description ( short school name and nickname ) , with a link to the school 's athletic program article if it exists . When only one nickname is listed , it is used for teams of both sexes . ( Note that in recent years , many schools have chosen to use the same nickname for men 's and women 's teams even when the nickname is distinctly masculine . ) When two nicknames are given , the first is used for men 's teams and the other is used for women 's teams . Different nicknames for a specific sport within a school are noted separately below the table .  Full name of school .  Location of school .  Conference of the school ( if conference column is left blank , the school is either independent or the conference is unknown ) .  Apart from the ongoing conversions , the following notes apply :  Following the normal standard of U.S. sports media , the terms `` University '' and `` College '' are ignored in alphabetization , unless necessary to distinguish schools ( such as Boston College and Boston University ) or are actually used by the media in normally describing the school , such as the College of Charleston .  Schools are also alphabetized by the names they are most commonly referred to by sports media , with non-intuitive examples included in parentheses next to the school name . This means , for example , that campuses bearing the name `` University of North Carolina '' may variously be found at `` C '' ( Charlotte ) , `` N '' ( North Carolina , referring to the Chapel Hill campus ) , and `` U '' ( the Asheville , Greensboro , Pembroke , and Wilmington campuses , all normally referred to as UNC - -LCB- campus name -RCB- ) .  The prefix `` St. '' , as in `` Saint '' , is alphabetized as if it were spelled out .

neg: ABC-TV ABC-TV may refer to :  American Broadcasting Company , a radio and television network in the United States  Australian Broadcasting Corporation 's ABC Television network  ABC ( TV station ) , the ABC television station in Canberra  Associated British Corporation , a defunct ITV company in the United Kingdom  Asahi Broadcasting Corporation , a radio and television broadcaster in Osaka , Japan  Associated Broadcasting Company , a radio and television network in the Philippines  ABC ( Australian TV channel ) , the Australian television channel , formerly known as ABC1  ABC2 , the Australian digital television channel  ABC Television , a television channel in Nepal

neg: Seven dirty words The seven dirty words are seven English-language words that American comedian George Carlin first listed in 1972 in his monologue `` Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television '' . The words are : shit , piss , fuck , cunt , cocksucker , motherfucker , and tits .   At the time , the words were considered highly inappropriate and unsuitable for broadcast on the public airwaves in the United States , whether radio or television . As such , they were avoided in scripted material , and bleep censored in the rare cases in which they were used ; broadcast standards differ in different parts of the world , then and now , although most of the words on Carlin 's original list remain taboo on American broadcast television . The list was not an official enumeration of forbidden words , but rather was compiled by Carlin . Nonetheless , a radio broadcast featuring these words led to a U.S. Supreme Court decision that helped establish the extent to which the federal government could regulate speech on broadcast television and radio in the United States .

neg: List of college athletic programs in Ohio The main article is College sports .   Notes :  This list is in a tabular format , with columns arranged in the following order , from left to right :  Athletic team description ( short school name and nickname ) , with a link to the school 's athletic program article if it exists . When only one nickname is listed , it is used for teams of both sexes . ( Note that in recent years , many schools have chosen to use the same nickname for men 's and women 's teams even when the nickname is distinctly masculine . ) When two nicknames are given , the first is used for men 's teams and the other is used for women 's teams . Different nicknames for a specific sport within a school are noted separately below the table .  Full name of school .  Location of school .  Conference of the school ( if conference column is left blank , the school is either independent or the conference is unknown ) .  Apart from the ongoing conversions , the following notes apply :  Following the normal standard of U.S. sports media , the terms `` University '' and `` College '' are ignored in alphabetization , unless necessary to distinguish schools ( such as Boston College and Boston University ) or are actually used by the media in normally describing the school ( formerly the case for the College of Charleston , but media now use `` Charleston '' for that school 's athletic program ) .  Schools are also alphabetized by the names they are most commonly referred to by sports media , with non-intuitive examples included in parentheses next to the school name . This means , for example , that campuses bearing the name `` University of North Carolina '' may variously be found at `` C '' ( Charlotte ) , `` N '' ( North Carolina , referring to the Chapel Hill campus ) , and `` U '' ( the Asheville , Greensboro , Pembroke , and Wilmington campuses , all normally referred to as UNC - -LCB- campus name -RCB- ) .  The prefix `` St. '' , as in `` Saint '' , is alphabetized as if it were spelled out .

neg: List of city nicknames in California This partial list of city nicknames in California compiles the aliases , sobriquets , mottos and slogans that cities in California are known by ( or have been known by historically ) , officially and unofficially , to locals , outsiders or their tourism boards or chambers of commerce . City nicknames can help in establishing a civic identity , helping outsiders recognize a community or attracting people to a community because of its nickname ; promote civic pride ; and build community unity . Nicknames and slogans that successfully create a new community `` ideology or myth '' are also believed to have economic value . Their economic value is difficult to measure , but there are anecdotal reports of cities that have achieved substantial economic benefits by `` branding '' themselves by adopting new slogans .   Some unofficial nicknames are positive , while others are derisive . The unofficial nicknames listed here have been in use for a long time or have gained wide currency .

neg: Extended Data Services Extended Data Services ( now XDS , previously EDS ) , is an American standard classified under Electronic Industries Alliance standard CEA-608-E for the delivery of any ancillary data ( metadata ) to be sent with an analog television program , or any other NTSC video signal .   XDS is used by TV stations , TV networks , and TV program syndication distributors in the USA for several purposes .   Here are some of the most common uses of XDS :   The `` autoclock '' system delivers time data via an XDS `` Time-of-Day Packet '' for automatically setting the clock of newer TVs & VCRs sold in the USA . Most PBS stations provide this service .  Rudimentary program information which can be displayed on-screen , such as the name and remaining time of the program ,  Station identification ,  V-chip content ratings data .   XDS is also used by the American TV network ABC for their Network Alert System ( NAS ) . NAS is a one-way communication system used by ABC to inform and alert their local affiliate stations across the USA of information regarding ABC 's network programming ( such as program timings & changes , news special report information , etc. ) , using a special decoder manufactured for ABC by EEG Enterprises , a manufacturer of related equipment for the TV broadcast industry such as closed captioning and general-purpose XDS encoders . The CBS Television Network uses a similar method to transmit three separate internal messaging services to stations : one for programming departments , one for master control operations , and one for newsrooms .   Many standard definition receivers produced by Dish Network encode XDS data into their output signal . Data encoded includes time of day , program name , program description , program time remaining , channel identification , and content rating . This data is obtained from the satellite service 's EPG and replaces any data which may have been present when the signal was uplinked .   XDS uses the same line in the vertical blanking interval as closed captioning ( NTSC line 21 ) , and shares the available second video field bandwidth with the closed captioning channels CC3 and CC4 , and with the text channels TXT3 and TXT4 .

neg: The National Farm and Home Hour The National Farm and Home Hour was a variety show which was broadcast in various formats from 1928 to 1958 . Aimed at listeners in rural America , it was known as `` the farmer 's bulletin board '' and was produced by the United States Department of Agriculture with contributions from , and the cooperation of , various farm organizations ( among them the American Farm Bureau , 4-H Club , Farmers Union , Future Farmers of America and the National Grange ) . Raymond Edward Johnson and , later , Don Ameche appeared in dramatic sketches in the role of the Forest Ranger .   With live coverage of livestock expositions , harvest festivals and `` the most spectacular happenings in agricultural America , '' the program offered tips to farmers , music and news , plus advice from agencies and government officials .   The series first aired on Pittsburgh 's KDKA ( 1928-29 ) , moving to the Blue Network ( later ABC ) from September 30 , 1929 to March 17 , 1945 , usually heard Monday through Saturday at 12:30 ( Eastern ) . Under the sponsorship of Allis-Chalmers , it continued on NBC as a 30-minute show on Saturdays at noon ( Eastern ) from September 15 , 1945 to January 25 , 1958 ; in its final three years ( 1955-58 ) , it would be incorporated into the Saturday lineup of NBC 's weekend anthology Monitor .   Host Everett Mitchell opened each broadcast with his trademark line , `` It 's a beautiful day in Chicago ! '' , which became a familiar catch phrase .

neg: Big Three television networks The Big Three television networks are the three major traditional commercial broadcast television networks in the United States : the American Broadcasting Company ( ABC ) , CBS ( formerly known as the Columbia Broadcasting System ) and the National Broadcasting Company ( NBC ) . Beginning in 1948 until the late 1980 's , the Big Three networks dominated U.S. television .

neg: Young Broadcasting Young Broadcasting , LLC was an American media company that owned or operated 12 television stations in 10 markets with a total U.S. television household coverage of 5.9 % . The company was formerly known as Young Broadcasting Inc. and was the outgrowth of the ad representation firm Adam Young Inc. , which was founded in 1944 by Adam Young . Previously a public company , Young Broadcasting voluntarily declared Chapter 11 Bankruptcy on February 13 , 2009 to restructure its debts .   On June 24 , 2010 , the company emerged from bankruptcy as New Young Broadcasting Holding Co , Inc. , shedding $ 800 million in debt and becoming one of the most financially secure broadcasting companies in the country . Deborah A. McDermott was named President and CEO of the new company , in which Standard General L.P. , an American hedge fund , maintained a controlling interest .   On November 12 , 2013 , privately held Young Broadcasting acquired a controlling interest in Media General through a reverse merger . Following the merger , the new company was owned 67.5 percent by Young shareholders and 32.5 percent by Media General shareholders . The newly merged company would continue to operate as Media General with headquarters in Richmond , Virginia and trade on the New York Stock Exchange .

neg: Lone Star The Lone Star State is the official state nickname of Texas .   Lone Star ( Lonestar or Lone Stars ) may also refer to :

neg: NewsCenter NewsCenter or variant , is a brand that has been used by many broadcasting entities to refer to its regular newscasts .   In particular , `` NewsCenter '' may refer to :   The former NBC branding of Channel 4 News ( United States )  WNBC-TV , using NewsCenter 4 in 1970s  NBC WCSH-6 Portland NewsCenter  NBC WLBZ-2 Bangor NewsCenter  Granite Broadcasting Corporation 's branding `` NewsCenter ''  Northland 's NewsCenter , in Minnesota  Indiana 's NewsCenter  WCVB-TV in Boston , using `` NewsCenter 5 '' since its sign on in 1972  KGUN-TV in Tucson , using `` NewsCenter 9 '' during the 1970s and 1980s  NHK News Center 9 , Japan  MBC News Center , South Korea

neg: The Colgate Sports Newsreel The Colgate Sports Newsreel was a radio program focusing on sports . It has been called `` one of the most successful and most listened-to shows in radio history '' and `` one of radio broadcasting 's most entertaining and engaging programs . '' However , much of the information reported as fact was actually fiction .   The program was first broadcast in October 1939 , on NBC Blue . Although Colgate dropped its sponsorship in June 1951 , the show continued on NBC as Bill Stern 's Sports Newsreel through September 1953 . It then switched to ABC , where it ran until June 1956 . During World War II , the Newsreel was among the programs that NBC rebroadcast by transcription to members of the United States armed forces stationed abroad .   Bill Stern , the star , made the program memorable with his enthusiastic , dramatized delivery . He was already both the narrator of MGM 's News of the Day newsreels , and a sports announcer . Thus , the format of this program came naturally .   For most of its run , the show was sponsored by Colgate brushless shave cream . The opening theme `` was sung in barbershop quartet style to the tune of Mademoiselle from Armentieres '' and mentioned the sponsoring product prominently . Although the singing group was not named in the program , a news brief announcing the show 's launch in 1939 identified it as the Armchair Quartette . The theme 's lyrics varied a bit over the years , but the basic form was as follows :  Bill Stern the Colgate shave-cream man is on the air .  Bill Stern the Colgate shave-cream man with stories rare .  Take his advice and you 'll look keen .  You 'll get a shave that 's smooth and clean .  You 'll be a Colgate brushless fan .   From September 14 , 1953 , through December 10 , 1954 , Budweiser sponsored the program . Its final sponsor was Allstate , from December 13 , 1954 through June 22 , 1956 .

neg: A&E Networks A&E Networks ( branded as A+E Networks ) is an American media company that owns a group of television channels available via cable & satellite in the U.S. and abroad . A&E stands for Arts & Entertainment . The company is a joint venture with Hearst and Disney-ABC Television Group , a unit of the Disney Media Networks subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company .

neg: Multimedia (media company) Multimedia , Inc. was a media company that owned 10 daily newspapers , three weekly newspapers , two radio stations , five television stations , and a cable television system division . The company was headquartered in Greenville , South Carolina .   It also owned TV syndicator Multimedia Entertainment ( formerly Avco Embassy Television , which is now owned by NBCUniversal Television Distribution ) .   Multimedia was founded in 1968 , when the News-Piedmont Company of Greenville merged with Southern Broadcasting Corporation . The new company called the Southeastern Broadcasting Corporation comprised four newspapers ( two morning , two afternoon ) , three television stations and six radio stations . The company 's biggest purchase came in 1976 , when it bought WLWT in Cincinnati -- and with it , the distribution rights to The Phil Donahue Show .   The company was involved in one of the more unusual media transactions in history . In 1983 , it sold its flagship television station , WFBC-TV in Greenville ( now WYFF ) and WXII-TV in Winston-Salem , North Carolina to Pulitzer , Inc. . In return , Multimedia received Pulitzer 's former flagship television station , KSDK in St. Louis . Multimedia used its new purchase as the testing ground for a new show hosted by Sally Jessy Raphael .   Multimedia was acquired by the Gannett Company in 1995 , after the sale was finalized , Gannett sold Multimedia Entertainment to MCA the following year . In January 2000 the cable television division , which included systems in Kansas , Oklahoma and North Carolina was sold to Cox Communications . The North Carolina systems were resold to Suddenlink Communications in 2006 .   The Multimedia name lives on as a holding company and licensee within what is now Tegna , Inc. 's corporate structure . Productions under Multimedia Entertainment are now part of the NBCUniversal Television Distribution archives .

neg: List of college athletic programs in New Jersey This is a list of college athletic programs in New Jersey , USA .   '' ` Notes :  This list is in a tabular format , with columns arranged in the following order , from left to right :  Athletic team description ( short school name and nickname ) , with a link to the school 's athletic program article if it exists . When only one nickname is listed , it is used for teams of both sexes . ( Note that in recent years , many schools have chosen to use the same nickname for men 's and women 's teams even when the nickname is distinctly masculine . ) When two nicknames are given , the first is used for men 's teams and the other is used for women 's teams . Different nicknames for a specific sport within a school are noted separately below the table .  Full name of school .  Location of school .  Conference of the school ( if conference column is left blank , the school is either independent or the conference is unknown ) .  Apart from the ongoing conversions , the following notes apply :  Following the normal standard of U.S. sports media , the terms `` University '' and `` College '' are ignored in alphabetization , unless necessary to distinguish schools ( such as Boston College and Boston University ) or are actually used by the media in normally describing the school ( formerly the case for the College of Charleston , but national media now use `` Charleston '' to describe that school 's athletic program ) .  Schools are also alphabetized by the names they are most commonly referred to by sports media , with non-intuitive examples included in parentheses next to the school name . This means , for example , that campuses bearing the name `` University of North Carolina '' may variously be found at `` C '' ( Charlotte ) , `` N '' ( North Carolina , referring to the Chapel Hill campus ) , and `` U '' ( the Asheville , Greensboro , Pembroke , and Wilmington campuses , all normally referred to as UNC - -LCB- campus name -RCB- ) .  The prefix `` St. '' , as in `` Saint '' , is alphabetized as if it were spelled out .

neg: English-language radio English-language radio refers to radio stations that broadcast primarily in the English language and are located in countries where English is not an official language or majority language . Often referred to as `` English-speaking radio '' or `` Expat radio '' the broadcasts enables expats , vacationers and travelers to listen to radio in their native language while traveling abroad . The idea is that stations broadcast in English to popular holiday destinations such as Pattaya or the French Riviera or places with high expat communities . English language broadcasting also takes the form of military-backed radio such as the American Forces Network . However English-language radio based in foreign countries has to now compete with the introduction of internet radio and satellite technology that has increased listener 's access to English-language radio based in `` home '' counties .

neg: Phillips Code The Phillips Code is a shorthand method created in 1879 by Walter P. Phillips for the rapid transmission of press reports by telegraph .   The code consists of a dictionary of common words or phrases and their associated abbreviations . Extremely common terms are represented by a single letter ( C - See ; Y - Year ) ; those less frequently used gain successively longer abbreviations ( Ab - About ; Abb - Abbreviate ; Abty - Ability ; Acmpd - Accompanied ) .   The terms POTUS and SCOTUS originated in the code and entered common parlance when newsgathering services ( in particular , Associated Press ) adopted the terminology .   Telegraph operators would often interleave Phillips Code with numeric `` Wire Signals '' , to describe the article 's priority or confirm its transmission . This meta-data would occasionally appear in printed newspapers , especially the code for `` End of article '' - 30 .

neg: The First Nighter Program The First Nighter Program was a long-running radio anthology comedy-drama series broadcast from November 27 , 1930 , to September 27 , 1953 . The host was Mr. First Nighter ( Charles P. Hughes , Macdonald Carey , Bret Morrison , Marvin Miller , Don Briggs and Rye Billsbury -LSB- later known as Michael Rye -RSB- ) .   An article in a 1939 newspaper observed , `` First Nighter was the first show to present complete and separate original plays each week . ''   The show 's opening recreated the aural atmosphere of a Broadway opening . Before each week 's drama began , Mr. First Nighter was first heard walking on Broadway , emerging from the noise of people and street traffic into the crowded lobby of `` the Little Theater Off Times Square '' and then taking his seat in the third row center , where he gave the whispered introduction :  The house lights have dimmed , and the curtain is about to go up on tonight 's production .   Romantic comedies were the specialty of the series , and the principal roles were played by the teams of Don Ameche and June Meredith ( 1930 -- 36 ) , Ameche and Betty Lou Gerson ( 1935 -- 36 ) , Les Tremayne and Barbara Luddy ( 1936 -- 43 ) and  Olan Soule and Luddy ( 1943 and after ) .  Joseph T. Ainley produced and directed the series . The announcers were Larry Keating and Vincent Pelletier . Music was provided by `` The Famous First Nighter Orchestra '' , under the direction of Eric Sagerquist ( 1930 -- 44 ) , Caesar Petrillo ( 1945 -- 46 ) and Frank Worth ( 1947 -- 53 ) .   The most popular episode may have been the annual Christmas episode , `` Little Town of Bethlehem , '' which was first performed in 1937 and every year afterwards at the request of the listening audience .   Performing before a studio audience , the actors wore formal attire , with Luddy in a gown and Tremayne clad in evening clothes and top hat . Commercial breaks were signalled with the usher 's cry `` Smoking downstairs and in the outer lobby only , please ! '' , with the action resuming with a buzzer and the usher 's curtain call .   The series ran on four radio networks in the following timeline :  NBC Blue Network : 11/27/30 to 09/29/33  NBC Red Network : 10/06/33 to 02/12/37  CBS : 02/19/37 to 12/21/37  NBC Red Network : 01/07/38 to 08/26/38  CBS : 09/02/38 to 05/29/42  Mutual : 10/04/42 to 10/25/44  CBS : 10/20/45 to 04/13/46 and 10/04/47 to 10/20/49  NBC ( reruns ) : 04/27/52 to 09/27/53   The show was hosted by The Campana Company and solely featured commercials for their products . Due largely in part to this exposure , their Italian Balm became the best-selling hand lotion in the United States in the 1930s .

neg: 1994 United States broadcast TV realignment The 1994 United States broadcast television realignment consisted of a series of events , primarily involving affiliation switches between television stations , that resulted from a multimillion-dollar deal between the Fox Broadcasting Company ( commonly known as simply Fox ) and New World Communications , a media company that -- through its then-recently formed broadcasting division -- owned several VHF television stations affiliated with major broadcast television networks , primarily CBS .   The major impetus for the changes was to allow Fox to improve its local affiliate coverage , in preparation for the commencement of its rights to the National Football Conference ( NFC ) television package , which the National Football League ( NFL ) awarded to the fledgling network in December 1993 . As a result of various other deals that followed as a result of the affiliation switches created by the deal between Fox and New World , most notably the buyout of CBS by Westinghouse , the switches constituted some of the most sweeping changes in American television history . As a result of this realignment , Fox ascended to the status of a major television network , comparable in influence to the Big Three television networks ( CBS , NBC and ABC ) .   Nearly 70 stations in 30 media markets throughout the United States changed affiliations starting in September 1994 and continuing through September 1996 ( although an additional affiliation switch would occur in February 1997 , through the launch of an upstart station that gained its network partner through one of the ancillary deals ) , which -- along with the concurrent January 1995 launches of The WB Television Network ( a joint venture between Time Warner , the Tribune Company and the network 's founding chief executive officer , Jamie Kellner ) and the United Paramount Network ( UPN ) ( founded by Chris-Craft/United Television , through a programming partnership with Paramount Television ) , both of which affiliated with certain stations that lost their previous network partners through the various affiliation agreements -- marked some of the most expansive changes ever to have occurred in American television .

neg: Mutual Lifestyle Radio Mutual Lifestyle Radio was a service of the Mutual Broadcasting System . It aired an hourly newscast at 55 minutes past the hour , which focused primarily on `` good news '' or offbeat stories aimed at contemporary and AOR radio audiences .   The newscast was originally branded `` Progressive News '' to differentiate itself from the `` Comprehensive News '' that aired on the hour and half-hour . It was created in the early 1970s as Mutual Progressive Network ( a.k.a. MPN ) when Mutual , having lost their lawsuit attempting to prevent ABC from splitting into four radio networks in 1968 , decided to take a similar tactic , also launching Mutual Black Network ( a.k.a. MBN ) , Mutual Cadena Hispánica ( translated to `` Mutual Spanish Network '' ) , & Mutual Southwest Network . The newscast was re-branded in 1980 and subsequently abandoned in 1983 .   Category : American radio programs  Category : Defunct radio networks in the United States  Category : Mutual Broadcasting System


query: Cindy McCain is married to a 2008 rugby champion.

pos: Cindy McCain Cindy Lou Hensley McCain ( born May 20 , 1954 ) is an American businesswoman , philanthropist , and humanitarian , and the wife of long-time United States Senator and 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain of Arizona .   She was born and raised in Phoenix , Arizona , as the daughter of wealthy beer distributor Jim Hensley . After receiving bachelor 's and master 's degrees from the University of Southern California , she became a special education teacher . She married John McCain in 1980 and the couple moved to Arizona in 1981 , where her husband would be elected to the United States Congress the following year and has been in office since then . The couple had three children together , in addition to adopting another . From 1988 to 1995 , she founded and operated a nonprofit organization , the American Voluntary Medical Team , which organized trips by medical personnel to disaster-stricken or war-torn third-world areas . During this time , she became addicted to painkillers for several years and resorted to having a physician write illegal prescriptions on her behalf . She reached an agreement with the government in which no charges were filed against her .   Upon her father 's death in 2000 , she inherited majority control and became chair of Hensley & Co. , one of the largest Anheuser-Busch beer distributors in the United States . She participated in both of her husband 's presidential campaigns and , in 2008 , drew both positive and negative scrutiny for her appearance , demeanor , wealth , spending habits , and financial obligations . She continues to be an active philanthropist and serves on the boards of Operation Smile , Eastern Congo Initiative , CARE and HALO Trust , frequently making overseas trips in conjunction with their activities . During the 2010s she has become prominent in the fight against human trafficking .

neg: Rory Schlein Rory Robert Schlein ( born 1 September 1984 ) is an Australian speedway rider . He is the son of the 1974 Northern Territory solo champion Lyndon Schlein .

neg: Mike Tindall Michael James `` Mike '' Tindall , ( born 18 October 1978 ) is a former English rugby player who played outside centre for Bath Rugby and Gloucester Rugby , has captained the England team , and was a member of the 2003 World Cup-winning squad . He is married to Zara Phillips , the daughter of the Princess Royal and the eldest granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip , Duke of Edinburgh .   He participated as a contestant in the 2015 series of Bear Grylls : Mission Survive and was the runner-up after the 12-day survival mission . He currently plays for the Gloucester Division 2 team , Minchinhampton RFC .

neg: 2009 end-of-year rugby union internationals The 2009 end of year rugby internationals , also known as the Autumn internationals in the Northern Hemisphere , saw Australia , New Zealand , South Africa and Argentina , tour the northern hemisphere .   The headline event of the series was an attempted Grand Slam tour of the Home Nations by Australia . This year marked the 25th anniversary of the Wallabies ' only previous Grand Slam tour , which saw the Wallabies sweep all four matches and saw David Campese , Mark Ella , Nick Farr-Jones , and Michael Lynagh achieve international prominence . Also , for the second consecutive year , a Bledisloe Cup match was contested by New Zealand and Australia outside of either country , this time in Tokyo . The final event of the series , the Barbarians ' traditional Final Challenge , involved New Zealand , with the Barbarians winning over a mostly second-string All Blacks side .   For the first time since the inception of the IRB World Rankings in 2003 , all of the top 20 teams in the rankings played matches in the November window . The only top-20 teams not playing in the November tours were Uruguay and the USA , which played a two-legged 2011 Rugby World Cup qualifying tie during November .   This year 's series was also marked by more non-Test matches pitting Test teams with top-level clubs team than in recent years . Matches of this type are often called `` midweek matches '' because they are traditionally played at midweek , most often on Wednesday , although they can also be scheduled on a weekend when the touring team has no Test scheduled . Australia and South Africa both scheduled two such matches ; the Wallabies won both of their matches comfortably , while the Springboks lost both of theirs .

neg: 2007–08 Top 14 season The 2007-08 Top 14 Competition was a French domestic rugby union club competition , operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby ( LNR ) . Because France hosted the 2007 Rugby World Cup , the competition did not begin at its normal time of August , but instead started on the last weekend in October 2007 , one week after the Rugby World Cup final . The league compensated for the late start by playing on several weekends that it normally skips , namely the weekends of the 2008 Six Nations Championship and the semifinals and final of the 2007-08 Heineken Cup . The season ended on June 28 , 2008 , with Toulouse defeating regular-season league leader Clermont 26 -- 20 in the final and thereby lifting the Bouclier de Brennus .   This year 's edition of the Top 14 welcomed Auch and Dax , who earned promotion from Rugby Pro D2 . Agen and Narbonne were relegated from the Top 14 .   As in previous seasons , the top four clubs at the end of the home-and-away season advanced to a single-elimination playoff . The semifinals were held at neutral sites , with the final at Stade de France . Going into the season , the top six clubs were guaranteed of berths in the 2008-09 Heineken Cup . Since Toulouse advanced to the 2007-08 Heineken Cup final against Irish club Munster , thereby assuring a higher finish for a French team in that competition than for any team from England or Italy , the seventh-place club also earned a berth in the 2008-09 Heineken Cup . The bottom two teams were provisionally relegated to Pro D2 , with the possibility of one or both of the bottom teams to be reprieved if a team above them failed a postseason financial audit . This happened in 2007-08 , as Albi failed the audit , ultimately giving a reprieve to second-from bottom Dax .   This season , LNR trialled a modification to the bonus point system in both the Top 14 and Pro D2 . The system to be used this season was :   4 points for a win .  2 points for a draw .  1 `` bonus '' point for winning while scoring at least 3 more tries than the opponent . This replaces the standard bonus point for scoring 4 tries regardless of the match result .  1 `` bonus '' point for losing by 7 points ( or less ) .   This system was explicitly intended to prevent a losing team from earning two bonus points , as is possible under the standard system .   Second division : 2007-08 Rugby Pro D2 season

neg: Iowa Chicken The Iowa Chicken was a person in a chicken suit who followed John McCain and Rudy Giuliani around Iowa during the 2008 American presidential race , carrying a sign that read `` You ` Bawk ` ed at the Straw Poll ! '' This was done to both protest and bring attention to the fact that neither candidate competed in the Iowa Straw Poll . In the past , all Republican candidates have competed in the Straw Poll , and McCain and Giuliani 's decisions not to attend represented a break from tradition .   The identity of the Iowa Chicken has not been revealed , but he or she follows an American campaign tradition , including such precedents as 2000 's Corn Man .

neg: Tim Couch (politician) Tim Couch ( born August 19 , 1961 ) is an American politician and a Republican member of the Kentucky House of Representatives representing District 90 since January 2003 . He has suggested President Barack Obama is gay , his wife Michelle Obama is a transgender man , and their two children are adopted .

neg: 2008 Rugby League World Cup The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup since its inauguration in 1954 , and the first since the 2000 tournament . The tournament was held in Australia from 26 October , culminating in the final between Australia and New Zealand on 22 November .   2008 was the fourth time that the World Cup was held in Australia , the first being in 1957 . The tournament was won by New Zealand , who defeated Australia 34 -- 20 in the final in one of the greatest upsets in the history of the sport . The tournament featured the best ten teams around the globe which were split into three groups . A total of eighteen matches took place in twelve different venues across four Australian states . The tournament ended a year of celebrations commemorating the centenary of the game in the southern hemisphere and was part of the Festival of World Cups .   The thirteenth Cup was scheduled to be held in Australia in 2004 , however the lack of international success by Great Britain and New Zealand after the 2000 World Cup and the rise of the Tri-Nations tournament meant that it was delayed for a further four years . The Rugby League International Federation officially announced this tournament on 6 May 2006 , with further details on scheduling and dates following on 19 April 2007 .   The first match took place in Townsville between England and Papua New Guinea , although the official opening ceremony of the competition occurred before the Australia and New Zealand match the following day in Sydney . The final took place at Lang Park ( Suncorp Stadium ) in Brisbane .   The tournament proved a commercial success , delivering a profit of and re-establishing the credibility of the competition .

neg: Wisconsin Republican primary, 2008 The 2008 Wisconsin Primary for the Republicans was held on February 19 , 2008 . Polls in Wisconsin opened at 7:00 AM and closed 8:00 PM ( local time ) John McCain won the primary .

neg: United States presidential election in Nebraska, 2008 The 2008 United States presidential election in Nebraska took place on November 4 , 2008 as part of the 2008 United States presidential election . Voters chose 5 electors to the Electoral College , who voted for President and Vice President . However , this state is one of the two states of the U.S. that , instead of giving all of its electors to the winner based on its statewide results , just 2 of them vote based on the statewide results , and the others vote based on their individual congressional district results .   Nebraska , statewide , was not a swing state in 2008 . Located in the Great Plains of the United States , it is one of the most staunchly Republican states in the country . While some hypothetical general election match-up polls between Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama showed the race to be seemingly close , they were largely regarded as outliers as more polls released showed McCain leading in double digits . McCain wound up carrying the popular vote in Nebraska by 14.93 points , taking in 56.53 % of the total statewide vote . However , Obama narrowly defeated McCain in Nebraska 's 2nd congressional district , which contains Omaha and the surrounding areas . Due to Nebraska 's system of allocating electoral votes to winners of Congressional Districts , Obama was able to win one electoral vote while John McCain received the state 's other four electoral votes .

neg: Matthew Johns Matthew Johns ( born 27 July 1971 in Cessnock , New South Wales ) is an Australian rugby league football commentator and former professional player . An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative five-eighth , Johns played his club football primarily with the Newcastle Knights , alongside his younger brother , Andrew Johns . Since March 2011 , Johns has been a co-host on the Triple M Sydney breakfast show called The Grill Team with Mark Geyer . Since 2012 , Johns has been a part of the Fox Sports NRL coverage . He also had his own show for one season , The Matty Johns Show .

neg: Sean Duke Sean Duke ( born May 7 , 1988 ) is a Canadian rugby union player who has competed for the Canadian national team since 2008 .

neg: Super Rugby player of the year Super Rugby player of the year is an accolade awarded annually . Super Rugby is the largest and pre-eminent professional Rugby union competition in the Southern Hemisphere .

neg: Graeme Crosby Graeme Crosby ( born 4 July 1955 ) is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer from New Zealand . Crosby has won the Daytona 200 , the Imola 200 , the Suzuka 8 Hours , and the Isle of Man TT .   Crosby began his racing career in 1974 in the New Zealand racing scene . In 1976 , he raced in the Australian Superbike championship . He then left for Europe to compete in Britain where he won the 1980 Isle of Man Senior TT . By 1980 , he had worked his way up to the 500cc road racing world championship on a Suzuki RG 500 . Also in 1980 , he teamed up with Wes Cooley on a Yoshimura Suzuki to win the Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race and won the 1981 TT Formula One on a Suzuki .   Crosby finished fifth in the 1981 500cc championship and successfully defended his TT Formula One title . He then joined Giacomo Agostini 's Yamaha factory racing team . He began the 1982 season by winning the prestigious Daytona 200 . Despite injuries , Crosby still managed second overall in the championship . Frustrated by the internal politics of his race team Crosby quit the Grand Prix circuit after the 1982 season .   After his retirement , Crosby returned to New Zealand and has run a number of successful motorcycle businesses . He also began auto racing , driving successfully in Touring car racing , mostly in New Zealand and Australia . Crosby was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1995 . In 2007 , he was inducted into the New Zealand Motorcycling Hall of Fame .   Crosby 's autobiography entitled CROZ -- Larrikin Biker was published in 2010 .

neg: Renata Ribeiro Renata Ribeiro ( born December 7 , 1981 ) is a Brazilian female beach volleyball player .   Ribeiro and team mate Talita Antunes represented Brazil at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing , China .   She is married to former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Maurício Rua .

neg: Sports rorts affair The `` sports rorts '' affair was the name by which Australian media and political commentators came to refer to events during the second Keating ministry in late 1993 and early 1994 , where the then Sports Minister , Ros Kelly , was unable to appropriately explain the distribution of federal sporting grants to marginal electorates held by the governing Australian Labor Party . It led to a textbook demonstration of individual ministerial responsibility where , on 28 February 1994 , Kelly resigned from her position under consistent pressure from the Australian Democrats and the Liberal opposition about the matter . Ultimately , the controversy also led to her resignation from Parliament and , at the resulting by-election on 25 March 1995 , the government lost the normally safe Labor seat of Canberra .   In December 1993 , the Auditor-General complained about the manner in which the Department had administered A$ 30 million of grants under the Community Cultural , Recreational and Sporting Facilities Program , which had been initiated by Graham Richardson in 1988 . The Auditor-General reported that he could not find any documentation explaining the rationale for grants made by Kelly 's department , and therefore could not assess her decision-making procedures . The opposition , led by John Hewson and Peter Costello , claimed in Parliament that the money had been directed into marginal Labor-held electorates before the 1993 federal election as a pork barrelling exercise . Initially , she avoided answering questions on the matter , but she relented following threats by the Australian Democrats to vote for a Liberal proposition establishing a Senate inquiry if she did not give evidence to a House of Representatives committee . During the enquiry , she said that she had assessed 2,800 submissions for funding on the sole basis of verbal advice from her staff , and that decisions on short-listed applications had been made on a `` great big whiteboard '' in her office , having been erased without permanent record once the decisions were made . The 12-person committee , despite having a Labor majority , ultimately found on 7 February 1994 that her actions were `` not illegal '' but her administration was `` deficient '' .   On 21 February 1994 , following changes to Australian House of Representatives Question Time which created a roster for ministers to appear in the House , the Liberals , led by Hewson and Costello , used the opportunity to demand her resignation . On 28 February , she did so , although Keating continued to support her , speaking out on 3 March 1994 accusing the Senate of holding the Government to ransom .   Eleven months later , Kelly resigned from parliament , triggering a 1995 by-election . A 16.1 % swing against Labor in the normally comfortably safe Labor seat resulted in the election of Liberal challenger Brendan Smyth on 25 March 1995 . Labor was heavily defeated in the 1996 election , but Bob McMullan regained Canberra for Labor while Smyth failed to win the new seat of Namadgi .

neg: Rick Warren Richard Duane `` Rick '' Warren ( born January 28 , 1954 ) is an American evangelical Christian pastor and author . He is the founder and senior pastor of Saddleback Church , an evangelical megachurch in Lake Forest , California , that is the eighth-largest church in the United States ( including multi-site churches ) . He is also a bestselling author of many Christian books , including his guide to church ministry and evangelism , The Purpose Driven Church , which has spawned a series of conferences on Christian ministry and evangelism . He is perhaps best known for the subsequent book The Purpose Driven Life which has sold more than 30 million copies , making Warren a '' New York Times bestselling author .   Warren holds conservative theological views and traditional evangelical views on social issues such as abortion , same-sex marriage , abstinence-only education over the use of condoms to prevent HIV/AIDS , and embryonic stem-cell research .   During the 2008 United States presidential election , Warren hosted the Civil Forum on the Presidency at his church with both presidential candidates , John McCain and Barack Obama . Obama later sparked controversy when he asked Warren to give the invocation at the presidential inauguration in January 2009 .

neg: Iowa Democratic caucuses, 2008 The Iowa Democratic Presidential Caucus occurred on January 3 , 2008 , and was the state caucuses of the Iowa Democratic Party . It was the first election for the Democrats of the 2008 presidential election . Also referred to as `` the First in the Nation Caucus , '' it was the first election of the primary season on both the Democratic and Republican sides . Of the eight major Democratic presidential candidates , then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois received the most votes and was ultimately declared the winner of the Iowa Democratic Caucus of 2008 , making him the first African American to win the caucus . Former U.S. Senator John Edwards of North Carolina came in second place and then-U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton of New York finished third , though Clinton received more delegates than Edwards . Campaigning had begun as early as two years before the event .

neg: 2008 Tri Nations Series The 2008 Tri Nations Series was the thirteenth annual Tri Nations competition between the national rugby union teams of New Zealand , Australia and South Africa . The All Blacks won the series on 13 September 2008 after defeating Australia in the last match of the series .

neg: 2008–09 Scarlets season The 2008 -- 09 season is the sixth in the history of the Scarlets regional side . The season will see the Scarlets compete in three competitions : the Celtic League , the EDF Energy Cup and the Heineken Cup . The season welcomes a change of ground , with the team moving from their home of over 125 years , Stradey Park , to a new stadium in Pemberton named Parc y Scarlets , as well as a change in the team name , dropping the `` Llanelli '' from their moniker to become the Scarlets .

neg: Rory Duncan Rory Duncan ( born 26 July 1977 ) is a former South African rugby union player .   He started his career at the , representing them in the Vodacom Cup in 1999 and 2001 . He then the joined in 2002 , where he played for four seasons before moving to the in 2006 . Between 2008 and 2010 , he had a spell at Japanese Top League club Yamaha Júbilo before returning to the for the 2010 Currie Cup season . He announced his retirement at the end of 2011 .   After two seasons as head coach at Grey High School , Duncan joined the in November 2013 to become the coach of their Vodacom Cup and Under-21 sides . He is currently their Director of Rugby and Currie Cup head coach .