Lufthansa Flight 181

# Lufthansa Flight 181

## Abstract

Lufthansa Flight 181, a Boeing 737-230C jet airliner (reg. D-ABCE) named Landshut, was hijacked on 13 October 1977 by four militants of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine while en route from Palma de Mallorca, Spain, to Frankfurt am Main, West Germany. The hijacking aimed to secure the release of eleven notorious Red Army Faction leaders held in West German prisons and two Palestinians held in Turkey. This event was part of the so-called German Autumn, intended to increase pressure on the West German government. The hijackers diverted the flight to several locations in a harrowing odyssey before ending in Mogadishu, Somalia, where the crisis concluded in the early morning hours of 18 October 1977 under the cover of darkness. The West German counter-terrorism unit GSG 9, with ground support from the Somali Armed Forces, stormed the aircraft, rescuing all 87 passengers and four crew members. Tragically, the captain of the flight was killed by the hijackers earlier in the ordeal.

## Background

The hijacking was a dramatic escalation in the so-called German Autumn of 1977, a period marked by a series of terrorist activities in West Germany. It was directly linked to the dramatic kidnapping in Braunsfeld, Cologne, of Hanns Martin Schleyer, a prominent West German industrialist, by the Red Army Faction (RAF) " Commando Siegfried Hausner " group on 5 September 1977. Militants of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), working in concert with the RAF, hijacked the Lufthansa Landshut plane to secure the release of their imprisoned leaders and comrades, predominantly held in the West German supermax Stammheim Prison, as well as two Palestinians held in Turkey. The hijacking was intended to increase pressure on the West German government to meet these demands. It culminated in the West German GSG 9 rescue operation, codenamed "Feuerzauber" (German for "Magic Fire"), which resulted in the liberation of all 87 passengers and four of the five crew members. Three hijackers were killed during the rescue, and one was captured alive.

## Lufthansa crew

Two flight crew and three cabin crew operated the round-trip flight from Frankfurt to Palma de Mallorca:

## Hijackers

At the time, the hijackers' names remained unknown to the passengers and crew of Lufthansa Flight 181, other than Captain Mahmoud's alias, so the passengers and crew referred to them by nicknames. To this day, the survivors still refer to them as "the little one," "the fat one," "the boy," and "Captain Mahmoud".

During the five-day ordeal, the hijackers terrorized the passengers and crew with verbal abuse, physical assaults, and restraint, subjecting them to psychological torture and threats of further physical harm or death. They also sifted through the passengers' passports, luggage, and personal possessions, searching for clues indicating Jewish identity. At one point, Mahmoud found a Montblanc pen in a passenger's luggage. Mistaking the snowcap logo on the cap of the pen for the Star of David, he accused the passenger of being Jewish. Despite the passenger's desperate denial, Mahmoud declared, "You report for shooting tomorrow morning at 8:30, understood?" Almost as feared as the leader Mahmoud was Andrawes Sayeh, whom some passengers later described as equally zealous.

## Key West German rescue personnel

## Hijacking

At 13:55 Central European Summer Time (CEST) on Thursday, 13 October 1977, Lufthansa flight LH 181, a Boeing 737 named Landshut, took off from Palma de Mallorca Airport en route to Frankfurt Airport with 87 passengers (91 including the 4 hijackers) and five crew members. The hijackers were able to board the aircraft carrying two concealed pistols, four hand grenades, and 500 grams (18 oz) of plastic explosive due to lax airport security in Palma, Spain. The flight was piloted by Captain Jürgen Schumann, with co-pilot Jürgen Vietor at the controls.

About 30 minutes later, while overflying Marseille, the aircraft was hijacked by four militants of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), who called themselves "Commando Martyr Halima" in honour of fellow German militant Brigitte Kuhlmann. Kuhlmann, who used the nom de guerre "Halima", had been killed in Operation Entebbe in Uganda the previous year. The leader of the hijacker group, adopting the alias "Captain Mahmoud", angrily burst into the cockpit, brandishing a fully loaded pistol. He forcibly removed Vietor from the cockpit, sending him to the economy class area to join the passengers and flight attendants, leaving Schumann at the flight controls. As the other three hijackers knocked over food trays and ordered the hostages to put their hands on their heads, Mahmoud coerced Captain Schumann to fly east to Larnaca in Cyprus but was told that the plane had insufficient fuel and would have to land in Rome first.

### Rome

The hijacked aircraft changed course at around 14:38 CEST, as reported by air traffic controllers in southern France near Aix-en-Provence, diverting eastward and landing at Fiumicino Airport in Rome at 15:45 CEST for refuelling. At around 17:00 CEST, the hijackers made their first demands via the control tower, acting in concert with a Red Army Faction group, the Commando Siegfried Hausner group, which had kidnapped West German industrialist Hanns Martin Schleyer five weeks earlier. They demanded the release of all "comrades" imprisoned in the Federal Republic (West Germany), specifically the eleven Red Army Faction (RAF) terrorists detained predominantly at the supermax Stammheim Prison in Stuttgart.

The West German government expected active support for its tough anti-terrorism policy from its NATO and EC partners. West German Interior Minister Werner Maihofer contacted his Italian counterpart Francesco Cossiga and urged that the take-off of the hijacked plane be prevented by all means possible—whether by blocking the runway, which was initiated hesitantly or by shooting out the tyres during take-off. Cossiga never considered this, because the airport administration had unilaterally complied with the kidnappers' request to refuel the plane. Firing on the plane as it took off could easily have led to an explosion and thus a bloodbath among the passengers. After consulting with his colleagues, Cossiga decided that the most desirable solution for the Italian government was to rid itself of the problem altogether and not become a target of international terrorism through forceful action. At 17:42 CEST, the Landshut took off unhindered towards Cyprus, even without obtaining clearance from Rome air traffic control.

### Hijackers demands and ultimatum

While maintaining a rigorous news blackout, the West German government, stalling for time—a strategy they had already adopted early in the crisis of the kidnapping of West German industrialist Hanns Martin Schleyer on 5 September—asked the hijackers to "clarify" some points in their communiqué. The West German government had previously proposed Geneva lawyer Denis Payot, president of the Swiss League for Human and Citizen Rights (Ligue suisse des droits de l'homme et du citoyen), as a middleman for negotiations with Schleyer's kidnappers. Payot, a 35-year-old lawyer, was first mentioned by Schleyer's kidnappers when they demanded that Payot and Martin Niemoeller, an 85-year-old German theologian, Lutheran pastor, and former opponent of the Nazi regime, accompany the eleven Red Army Faction members on a flight to a country that would be named after they were freed from prison.

A letter in English, dated 13 October by the hijackers but received on Friday night, 14 October, addressed to Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, was delivered to Payot, as well as the French newspaper France-Soir, the Agence France-Presse (AFP) in Paris, and the Frankfurter Rundschau. The hijacking of Lufthansa Flight 181 had intensified the pressure on the West German government to have the Red Army Faction prisoners flown out, reaching an extreme level. Observers in the Federal Chancellery in Bonn were now firmly expecting a prisoner-hostage exchange.

The letter, which Payot said contained "demands and precise deadlines," was immediately forwarded to the Federal Chancellery in Bonn. Payot kept an earlier promise to the West German government that he would not divulge details of the messages that went through his office. Schleyer's kidnappers had contacted the lawyer fourteen times by telephone between September 6 and 17. Telephone calls made from West Germany to Payot's number were intercepted by the West German Federal Criminal Police Agency from the Frankfurt telecommunications office, and a "call trace" was also set up that allowed these calls to be traced back to telephone booths in Cologne. The French authorities discovered that Payot had also been called several times from Gare du Nord in Paris. The letter received by Payot from the hijackers, addressed to Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, stated:

Ultimatum to the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany.

We hereby inform you that the passengers and crew of Lufthansa aircraft 737, flight number LH 181, from Palma to Frankfurt (M) are under our complete control and responsibility. The lives of the passengers and crew and the life of Dr. Hanns Martin Schleyer depends on your fulfilling the following demands:

- Release of the following RAF comrades from West German prisons: Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin, Jan Carl Raspe, Verena Becker, Werner Hoppe, Karl-Heinz Dellwo, Hanna Krabbe, Bernd Rössner, Ingrid Schubert, Irmgard Möller, Günter Sonnenberg. Each person is to receive DM 100,000.

- Release of the following Palestinian F.L.P. comrades from prison in Istanbul: - Mahdi - Hussein.

- The payment of 15 million US dollars according to the attached instructions.

- Make arrangements with one of the following countries to receive the comrades who have been released: Democratic Republic of Vietnam, Republic of Somalia, People's Democratic Republic of Yemen.

- The German prisoners should be taken to their destination in an aircraft provided by you, you should fly via Istanbul and take on the two Palestinian comrades released from the prison there. The Turkish Government is well informed of our demands. All prisoners should reach their destination by Sunday, 16 October 1977, 08:00 GMT. The money should be handed over within the same period in accordance with the enclosed instructions.

- If all prisoners are not released and reach their destination and the money is not handed over as instructed within the specified time, Hanns Martin Schleyer and all passengers and the crew of Lufthansa aircraft 737, flight LH 181, will be killed immediately.

- If you comply with our instructions, everyone will be released.

- We will not attempt to contact you again. This will be our last contact with you. You will be held responsible for any error or failure in releasing the above prisoners or in handing over the specified ransom as instructed.

- Any attempt at delay or deception on your part will result in the immediate expiration of the ultimatum and the execution of Hanns Martin Schleyer, the passengers and the crew of the aircraft.

13 October 1977, Organization for the Fight against World Imperialism.

The letter to the Federal Republic of West Germany comprised two statements from the hijackers, who identified themselves as members of an "Organization for the Fight against World Imperialism." The first statement reiterated the demands made by Schleyer's kidnappers, while the second statement, titled "Operation Kafr Qaddum " was addressed to "all revolutionaries in the world," "all free Arabs," and "our Palestinian masses," attempting to provide a political justification for their actions. Additionally, a third statement was provided by the Commando Siegfried Hausner Red Army Faction, who were holding Hanns Martin Schleyer hostage.

Because this demand from the hijackers included prisoners held in Turkey, the West German Federal Government was in constant contact with the Turkish government from 14 October until the hostages' liberation on 18 October.

### Larnaca

The Landshut landed in Larnaca, Cyprus, at 20:28 CEST. After about an hour, a local Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) representative arrived at the airport and, over the radio, tried to persuade Mahmoud to release the hostages. This only provoked a furious response from Mahmoud, who angrily screamed at him in Arabic until the PLO representative gave up and left. The aircraft was then refuelled, and Schumann asked flight control for routing to Beirut. He was told that Beirut Airport was blockaded and closed to them, and Mahmoud suggested that they fly to Damascus instead. The Landshut took off at 22:50 CEST, heading for Beirut, but was refused permission to land there at 23:01 CEST. After also being denied landing permission in Damascus at 23:14 CEST, Baghdad at 00:23 CEST (14 October), and Kuwait at 00:58 CEST, they flew to Bahrain.

### Bahrain

Schumann was informed by a passing Qantas airliner that Bahrain International Airport was also closed to them. Schumann radioed flight control and stated that they had insufficient fuel to fly elsewhere. Despite being told again that the airport was closed, he was suddenly given an automatic landing frequency by the flight controller. The plane finally touched down in Bahrain at 01:52 CEST on 14 October. Upon arrival, the aircraft was immediately surrounded by armed troops. Mahmoud radioed the control tower, threatening to shoot the co-pilot unless the soldiers were withdrawn. After a stand-off with the control tower, during which Mahmoud set a five‑minute deadline and held a loaded pistol to Vietor's head, the troops were withdrawn. The aircraft was then refuelled and took off for Dubai at 03:24 CEST.

### Dubai

Approaching Dubai, the 737 was again denied landing permission. Overflying Dubai International Airport in the early light of dawn, the hijackers and pilots saw the runway blocked with military jeeps, trucks, and fire engines. Running short of fuel, Schumann radioed the control tower to announce that they were going to land anyway. As they made a low pass over the airport, the vehicles were finally being removed. At 05:40 CEST, the pilots made a smooth touchdown on the airport's main runway at sunrise. The plane was parked at the parking bay around 05:51 CEST, at daybreak.

In Dubai, the hijackers instructed the control tower to send airport crew staff to empty the toilet tanks, supply food, water, medicine, and newspapers, and take away the rubbish. Captain Schumann was able to communicate the number of hijackers on board, specifying that there were two male and two female hijackers by dropping different types of cigarettes on the tarmac from the cockpit window. In an interview with journalists, this information was revealed by Dubai's Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, then Minister of Defence. The hijackers learned about this, possibly from the radio, causing an enraged Mahmoud to angrily threaten Schumann's life for secretly sharing this coded message.

The aircraft remained parked on the tarmac at Dubai International Airport throughout Saturday, 15 October, during which the jet airliner experienced technical snags with the electrical generator, air conditioning, and auxiliary power unit breaking down. The hijackers demanded that engineers fix the plane. On the morning of Sunday, 16 October, Mahmoud threatened to start shooting hostages if the aircraft was not refuelled, and Dubai authorities eventually agreed to refuel the plane.

In the meantime, Hans-Jürgen Wischnewski, the West German minister responsible for handling the hijacking crisis, Oberleutnant Ulrich Wegener, commander of the elite West German counter-terrorism tactical intervention unit GSG 9, along with his adjutants, and Gerhard Boeden, head of the counter-terrorism department at the West German Federal Criminal Police Agency, arrived in Dubai to persuade the United Arab Emirates government to allow the GSG 9 to storm the Lufthansa aircraft and rescue the hostages. However, after permission was granted, senior operatives from GSG 9, supported by two SAS operatives who had joined the German officials in Dubai at the behest of the British government, insisted on additional rehearsals and dry-runs on an adjacent airstrip.

There are many legends surrounding the use of stun grenades in the rescue operation. The British SAS (Special Air Service Regiment) offered these new types of grenades, which were tested for effectiveness in Dubai. Due to the high phosphorus content, the grenades were deemed unsuitable and were not used in the plane. Reports suggest that up to 45 hours of training were conducted while in Dubai, totaling over 80 hours.

While Wegener was contemplating his options, the jet airliner was on the move again after the hijackers fully refuelled the Landshut plane and the pilots started up the engines. At 12:19 CEST on Sunday, 16 October, it took off, bound for Salalah and Masirah Island in Oman, where permission to land was once again denied and both airports were blockaded. After Riyadh in Saudi Arabia also closed and blockaded its airport runways at 14:50 CEST on 16 October (three days after the hijacking began), a course was set to Aden in South Yemen, at the limit of the plane's fuel range.

### Aden

Approaching Aden airspace, the flight was once again denied permission to land at Aden International Airport, just as it had been at the other airports in the region. Both main runways and the apron were blocked by military jeeps, tanks, and other vehicles. With the plane running dangerously low on fuel, the Aden airport authorities adamantly refused to clear the runways, leaving co-pilot Vietor little choice but to make a forced landing on an unpaved sand strip roughly parallel to both runways at 15:55 CEST.

The plane remained largely intact following the ground roll. However, when the Aden authorities instructed the hijackers and pilots to fly away, both pilots were concerned about the aircraft's airworthiness after its rough landing on rugged, rocky, and sandy terrain. They deemed it unsafe to take off and fly the jet airliner again until a thorough engineering inspection had been conducted. After the engineers claimed that the airframe was intact, Mahmoud allowed Schumann to check the condition of the landing gear and engines. Both engines had ingested a copious amount of sand and dirt at maximum reverse thrust and were clogged. The landing gear had not collapsed, but its structure was weakened, and its extension/retraction mechanism was damaged.

Schumann did not immediately return to the plane after inspecting it, despite numerous calls from the hijackers threatening to detonate the aircraft due to his absence. The reasons for his prolonged absence remained unclear for a long time. It was only in 2008, as part of a television documentary, that the man who had met Schumann at the airport in Aden was identified: Sheikh Ahmed Mansur, an Air Force General in command of a special Yemeni unit, who controlled the airport and surrounded the plane. Mansur testified that the captain, concerned for the lives of his passengers, demanded that they comply with the hijackers' demands. "I told him: I can fulfill any other request, but it is impossible for the passengers to disembark and the hijackers to negotiate from Yemeni soil. The conversation lasted eight to nine minutes," Mansur said. He only spoke to me. The ex-general also recalled Schumann's last words: "I'm going back now. I'm sure they're going to kill me."

Schumann subsequently boarded the plane, only to face the wrath of Mahmoud. In a fit of rage, Mahmoud furiously forced him to kneel on the passenger cabin floor and, without giving him a chance to explain himself, fatally shot him in the head. The hijacked plane was refuelled at 01:00 CEST on 17 October. At 02:02 CEST, with co-pilot Vietor at the controls, it dangerously and sluggishly took off from Aden, bound for the Somali capital of Mogadishu.

### Mogadishu

On the morning of 17 October at daybreak, around 04:34 CEST, the Landshut made an unannounced and textbook landing on the main runway at Mogadishu International Airport. The Somali government had initially refused the plane permission to land but relented when the jet airliner appeared in Somali airspace, fearing for the passengers' lives. The chief hijacker, Mahmoud (Akache), told co-pilot Vietor that he was very impressed by Vietor's flying skills and that he was free to disembark and flee since the crippled plane was in no state to fly elsewhere. Vietor, however, chose to stay on board with the 87 passengers and three remaining crew members.

After the twin‐engine aircraft was parked in front of the main airport terminal, it was surrounded at a distance by armed Somali troops. Schumann's corpse, which had been stored in a coat closet on board the flight throughout the final leg of the journey, was dumped via the aircraft's right rear door onto the tarmac and whisked away in an ambulance. During the day, the hijackers asked for food and medication, which were sent after the Somali government gave its permission; a Somali request that the hijackers release the women and children in exchange for the supplies was rejected. The hijackers set a 16:00 CEST deadline for the Red Army Faction (RAF) prisoners to be released, threatening to blow up the aircraft. The hijackers poured duty-free perfume and spirits over the hostages, telling them it would make them burn better, in preparation for the destruction of the aircraft, which ultimately did not occur. The hijackers were then told that the West German government had agreed to release the RAF prisoners and that their transfer to Mogadishu would take several more hours, but this was a ruse. The hijackers agreed to extend the deadline to 02:30 CEST the following morning (18 October). Mahmoud, now in high spirits, projected himself as the victor as the hijackers untied the hostages. But unbeknownst to them, the West German counter-terrorism unit GSG 9 was preparing to storm the Lufthansa aircraft and bring the dramatic hijacking to a decisive end.

## Rescue

### Operation Feuerzauber: The German GSG 9 assault

While West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt attempted to negotiate an agreement with Somali President Siad Barre from Bonn, special envoy Hans-Jürgen Wischnewski, GSG 9 commander Ulrich Wegener, and his adjutants Dieter Fox and officer Frieder Baum, who had all been trailing the hijacked Landshut flight and monitoring the situation as part of Wischnewski's mobile crisis management team, arrived at Mogadishu from Jeddah.

In West Germany, a team of approximately 60 GSG 9 Federal Border Guard (Bundesgrenzschutz) counter-terrorism commandos consisting of two units as well as technicians, field telecoms engineers, and paramedics, led by Wegener's deputy commander, Leutnant Klaus Blatte, had already assembled at Sankt Augustin-Hangelar near Bonn and were on standby, awaiting instructions. One of the GSG 9 units had already despatched from West Germany to trail the Landshut and had landed at a NATO military base in Crete, expecting to be deployed while the Landshut was in Cyprus.

On the evening of 16 October, the 1st unit GSG 9, flew from the Porz-Wahn military airfield to a NATO military base in Crete to meet the 3rd unit GSG 9. After the Landshut captain, Jürgen Schumann, was shot dead in Aden (Yemen), the probability of GSG 9 being deployed increased. They were ordered to follow the Landshut with an unspecified destination. The Lufthansa Boeing 707 aircraft, Stuttgart, carrying the GSG 9 assault team, flew from Crete towards Africa and finally to Mogadishu. It was co-piloted by Rüdiger von Lutzau, Gabriele Dillmann 's fiancé.

While the GSG 9 assault team was waiting in Djibouti airspace, an agreement was reached, and Somalia gave the green light for the rescue operation at Mogadishu. Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt then held a telephone conversation with GSG 9 commander Ulrich Wegener, ending with words implying, "Over to you." To this end, the West German government not only pledged considerable financial resources to Somalia but – much more importantly for the incumbent Somali 'president' Siad Barre, in reality, a coup plotter – covert support in the purchase of weapons for the war against neighbouring Ethiopia.

On 17 October, the aircraft carrying the GSG 9 assault team landed at Mogadishu International Airport at 17:30 CEST with all its lights off to avoid detection by the hijackers. It parked about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) away on the joint-use military airport side. The Somali Air Force had flown outdated MiGs over the airport all day, taking off and landing as a diversion. This ensured the terrorists in the hijacked plane would not notice the 707 with Wegener's GSG 9 assault team landing, as Mogadishu airport had been closed to civilian traffic.

After four hours of unloading all of their equipment and conducting the necessary reconnaissance, Wegener and Blatte finalised the assault plan, scheduled to begin at 00:01 CEST on 18 October. They decided to approach from the tail of the aircraft, its blind spot. Six GSG 9 assault teams would use aluminium ladders with tips bound in rubber to gain access to all entry and exit doors, as well as the escape hatches in the fuselage via the overwing doors. Meanwhile, German representatives in the airport tower fed Mahmoud a fictitious progress report on the journey of the released prisoners. Mahmoud was informed that the plane carrying the prisoners had departed from Cairo after refuelling. He was then asked to provide the conditions for the prisoner-hostage exchange over the radio.

Eight GSG 9 observation and sniper commandos, led by deputy commander Blatte, strategically positioned themselves approximately 200 metres (660 ft) away, encircling the Lufthansa Landshut aircraft. They reported all significant events and movements, securing the approach for the GSG 9 assault teams. At 23:15 CEST, six GSG 9 assault teams, along with GSG 9 technicians and paramedics, began their cautious and slow approach to the tail of the Landshut aircraft. By 23:52 CEST, the GSG 9 assault teams had taken up positions under the fuselage of the aircraft.

The GSG 9 assault team relied on their Somali counterparts to create a diversion. Moments before the GSG 9 assault, Somali soldiers set off a massive explosion about 300 metres (980 ft) in front of the jet airliner as a distraction tactic. This prompted Mahmoud and one of the other three hijackers to rush to the cockpit to observe what was happening, isolating them from the hostages in the cabin.

After the GSG 9 observation and sniper command reported over the radio that the two male hijackers and the co-pilot were in the cockpit, the assault teams approached their assigned aircraft doors, put up their rubber-tipped aluminum ladders, and waited for the order to enter. At 00:05 CEST, GSG 9 commander Wegener gave the order "Feuerzauber" (Magic Fire). Two British SAS operators threw new types of diversionary "flashbang" stun grenades into the air over the front exterior of the cockpit as a distraction to blind and disorient the hijackers. Whilst the GSG 9 observation and sniper command surrounding the aircraft provided cover, the GSG 9 assault teams swiftly climbed up their ladders, tore open the aircraft doors, and entered. Wegener, leading one of two groups, opened the forward doors. Two other groups, one led by Joachim Hümmer, stormed the aircraft using ladders to climb up onto the wings and simultaneously open both overwing emergency doors. Meanwhile, two teams, one led by Dieter Fox, each opened the rear doors. Though the GSG 9 assault teams were armed with Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine guns, only the Heckler & Koch P9S semi-automatic pistols with special hollow-point ammunition were to be used inside the aircraft. Wegener himself carried a.38 S&W Special M19 service revolver. Each GSG 9 assault team consisted of two men holding a ladder, three climbing it, one opening the door, and another, weapon ready, storming into the plane, followed by the rest of the team. Fox found himself with a clear path, with the hijackers further up the plane. He grabbed Birgitt Röhll, one of the first passengers, and her 10-year-old son, Stephan, and rushed them to the exit. With this, the first evacuation of hostages through the rear aircraft doors had begun.

A firefight lasting around two minutes ensued, during which the leader of the hijackers, Mahmoud, was killed appearing from the cockpit, and a young male hijacker and a female hijacker were critically wounded in the first-class aisle. The young male hijacker was able to detonate a hand grenade as he died, wounding stewardess Gabriele Dillmann in the legs. Fortunately, the grenade did not have a fragmentation casing. The other young female hijacker, Hind Alameh, was initially unspotted and feared to have hidden among the evacuating passengers. After a brief search, she emerged from taking cover in the forward lavatory and was fatally shot when she opened fire through the door gap on the GSG 9 commandos.

Shouting in German and English for the passengers and crew to get their heads down, the GSG 9 assault teams shot all four terrorists, killing Hind Alameh, Wabil Harb, and Zohair Akache (Mahmoud), and critically wounding Souhaila Andrawes Sayeh. One GSG 9 member was wounded in the neck by return fire from the hijackers. Three passengers and a flight attendant, Gabriele Dillmann, were slightly wounded by the hijacker's grenade explosion.

During the assault, as gunfire was exchanged, the evacuation of hostages first began through the rear aircraft doors, followed by the emergency wing exits. The passengers and crew were urgently ordered and ushered to evacuate the aircraft. Just seven intense minutes after the assault had began, GSG 9 commander Wegener gave the codeword: "Frühlingszeit!" (Springtime!), signaling the successful completion of the operation. Moments later, a crucial telex message reached Chancellor Schmidt in Bonn: "Four opponents down – hostages free – four hostages slightly wounded – one border guard commando slightly wounded." The tension broke, replaced by a wave of relief and triumph.

An American passenger, Christine Santiago, aboard the plane described the rescue: "I saw the door open and a man appears. His face was painted black and he started shouting in German "We're here to rescue you, get down!" (Wir sind hier, um euch zu retten, runter!) and they started shooting."

In press news footage, one female hijacker who survived her gunshot wounds, Andrawes Sayeh, was seen lying on a stretcher covered in blood after being shot in the legs and lungs. After the passengers were freed, as she was wheeled through the arrivals hall of Mogadishu airport, she raised her hand in a victory sign and uttered, "Kill me, we will win!".

The rescuers safely escorted all 87 passengers and 4 crew members off the Lufthansa Landshut aircraft. A few hours later, they were all flown to Cologne Bonn Airport, landing in the early afternoon of Tuesday, 18 October. The GSG 9 assault team received a hero's welcome at the airport, while the hostages, arriving on a separate flight, were met with overwhelming emotional relief.

### Global praise

On 20 October, at the Federal Chancellery in Bonn, GSG 9 commander Ulrich Wegener and the GSG 9 assault team members were each awarded the Federal Cross of Merit for their exceptional bravery and immense courage in the successful rescue of the hostages of Lufthansa Flight 181. The two British SAS operatives, who returned on the same flight with the GSG 9 assault team at the insistence of West German officials, met German Chancellor Schmidt in Bonn. He paid them the highest compliment, and both later received awards from the British government for their supporting role.

After the successful rescue operation, commendations from around the world poured into Bonn, many accompanied by requests for police training from the elite West German GSG 9 counter-terrorism unit.

### British government and SAS role

Practical help came from West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt 's telephone conversations with British Prime Minister James Callaghan, whom the Chancellor had asked to influence Dubai, given the significant British influence in the Gulf sheikhdoms. Chancellor Schmidt's goal was to apply influence on Dubai to prevent the Landshut from continuing further and allow the West German GSG 9 to rescue the hostages, as Dubai was then considered the only suitable place in the Middle East for such an operation. An ad hoc team was then set up in London, consisting of representatives of the British Foreign and Defence Ministries, the MI6 Secret Service, other Arabia experts, and the ambassador of the United Arab Emirates. The foreign policy office in the West German Federal Chancellery, led by Jürgen Ruhfus, was also involved. In addition to maps, the British government provided two security experts from their Special Air Service (SAS), later known as Major Alastair Morrison accompanied by Sergeant Barry Davies from the SAS's legendary Pagoda Team, as well as new types of diversionary "flashbang" stun grenades and special bulletproof vests, which were later used in Mogadishu.

For a long time, there were persistent rumours that the two SAS operators had helped to draw up the operational plan. However, Wegener, the commander of the GSG 9 rescue operation, dismissed these claims as complete nonsense. He said the SAS operators proposed a completely different tactic from the one we preferred. Our concept involved penetrating the aircraft through all entrances and exits (rather than just one).

There are also many legends surrounding the use of stun grenades in the rescue operation. Wegener said in an interview that the British SAS (Special Air Service Regiment) offered the grenades, which were tested for effectiveness in Dubai. Due to the high phosphorus content, the grenades were deemed unsuitable and were not used in the plane; they also would not have contributed to the success of the operation. However, GSG 9 commander Wegener assigned the two British SAS operatives to participate in the GSG 9 assault operation, specifically deploying the British special "flash-bang" stun grenades around the front exterior of the Lufthansa Landshut aircraft at the very moment the GSG 9 assault teams would storm the aircraft.

In the United Kingdom, Queen Elizabeth II awarded Major Alastair Morrison the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and Sergeant Barry Davies the British Empire Medal (BEM) for their crucial roles in aiding West German officials. Their intimate knowledge of the Persian Gulf states and the Horn of Africa, gained during their SAS service, along with practical support under the direction of the British government, facilitated co-operation from local authorities in the region for the West German officials. This support aided the West German government's rescue efforts and contingency planning for operations on the southern coastline of the Arabian Peninsula.

## Aftermath

News of the rescue of the hostages was followed by the deaths (and alleged suicides) on the same night of RAF (Red Army Faction) members Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin, and Jan-Carl Raspe at the supermax Stammheim Prison in Stuttgart. RAF member Irmgard Möller also attempted suicide with a breadknife but survived her injuries.

On Wednesday, 19 October, the body of German industry president Hanns Martin Schleyer, who had been kidnapped by the RAF some five weeks before the hijacking and was held hostage for 43 days, was found in the trunk of a green Audi 100 with Bad Homburg registration plates on a side street, Rue Chades Peguy, in Mulhouse, France, close to the French-Swiss and French-German borders. The RAF had shot him dead upon hearing about the deaths of their imprisoned comrades. They contacted the French newspaper Libération to announce his 'execution'; a subsequent post-mortem examination indicated that he had been killed the previous day.

Of the 20 people identified as perpetrators in Schleyer's kidnapping, 17 were caught and convicted, two were shot during arrest. One person was not captured and was considered missing. Those involved who are still alive did not reveal the name of the individual responsible for the execution for a long time. In September 2007, former RAF member Peter-Jürgen Boock publicly stated that Rolf Heißler and Stefan Wisniewski were the perpetrators.

After the Landshut crisis, the West German government demonstrated its resolve to never negotiate with terrorists, as it had done in 1972 with the Lufthansa Flight 649 and Lufthansa Flight 615 hijackers, and in the 1975 Peter Lorenz kidnapping. Chancellor Helmut Schmidt was widely praised among Western countries for his decision to storm the aircraft to rescue the hostages, although some criticized the risky action.

West German - Somali relations received a significant boost after the successful rescue operation. Lufthansa henceforth serviced all Somali Airlines planes in West Germany, while Frankfurt became Somali Airlines' new gateway to Europe. As a sign of gratitude, the West German government issued two multi-million dollar loans to the Somali government to assist in the development of the country's fisheries, agriculture, and other sectors.

## The aircraft

Originally built in January 1970, the Landshut is a Boeing 737 -230C (manufacturer's serial number 20254, Boeing line number 230, registration D-ABCE) with two Pratt & Whitney JT8D-9A engines, named after the city of Landshut in Bavaria. While under the control of the hijackers, the plane had traveled 10,000 kilometres (6,200 mi). The damaged aircraft was ferried back to Germany, repaired, and returned to service in late November 1977. It continued to fly for Lufthansa until September 1985 and was sold three months later to US carrier Presidential Airways. It subsequently changed hands several times.

### Purchase

The plane ultimately ended up in the fleet of Brazilian carrier TAF Linhas Aéreas, which purchased it for US$4,708,268 from Transmille Air Services of Kuala Lumpur. The Brazilian company subsequently went bankrupt and was unable to continue paying off the debt. TAF stopped service of the aircraft under registration PT-MTB in January 2008, owing to severe damage that made it unairworthy, and placed it in storage in Fortaleza Airport for years. On 14 August 2017, after Mr Kurpjuweit made inquiries to Fraport about scrapping seven or more abandoned aircraft at the airport, an ex-pilot group suggested bringing the plane back to Germany. David Dornier, former director of the Dornier Museum, along with the German Foreign Ministry, subsequently agreed to the project. Informed of the plans, Kurpjuweit helped the museum director with a feasibility project involving the transport of the aircraft in a Volga-Dnepr Airlines An-124. The 737 was acquired from TAF for R$75,936 (€20,519) in an agreement with the Fortaleza Airport administration for payment of taxes. On 15 August 2017, an MD-11F (registration D-ALCC) was sent to the airport with 8.5 tonnes of equipment and 15 Lufthansa Technik mechanics to dismantle the 737. On 21 and 22 September 2017, an An-124 and Il-76, also from Volga-Dnepr Airlines, arrived at Fortaleza. The An-124 carried the wings and fuselage back to Europe, while the Il-76 carried the engines and seats. After a refuelling stop in Cape Verde, both arrived in Friedrichshafen on 23 September 2017, for a total cost of €10 million paid by the Foreign Ministry. Smaller parts and equipment were sent to Germany in two cargo ship containers. Upon arrival, the parts were presented to approximately 4,000 people during a special event. The recovered Landshut aircraft was scheduled to be restored and exhibited by October 2019.

### Storage

The disassembled plane has since been stored in a hangar at Airplus Maintenance GmbH in Friedrichshafen. The plan to restore and display it in its original 1977 Lufthansa livery was never carried out. Funding issues and questions over competing responsibilities between ministries delayed the project, as did uncertainty over €300,000 in yearly costs. In February 2020, a proposal to transfer the plane parts to Berlin Tempelhof was rejected by the Ministry. After three years in a hangar and with the 737's fate unresolved, David Dornier stepped down in September 2020 as museum director and was replaced by attorney Hans-Peter Rien. He and Culture Minister Monika Grütters (CDU) never agreed on further financing, and the project was placed on hold. By 2023, a new shelter will be rented, and an opening for a kind of "museum" was planned for 2026.

### Studies

The federal government looked into whether the aircraft could be exhibited in the Air Force Museum in Berlin-Gatow. The plans did not meet with approval from historians and experts, due to its remote location and lack of connection between the German army and the "Landshut" aircraft. CSU members of the Munich city council proposed bringing the aircraft to Munich, and an application was filed to see if the plane could be exhibited at former Munich Riem Airport. The city highlighted to Culture Minister Grütters the aircraft's connection to Munich, where it had been christened on 7 August 1970 in a Riem Airport hangar in the presence of a large delegation from Landshut. After exactly three years, plans to exhibit the 737 in Dornier Museum were effectively over.

## Display

The Federal Agency for Civic Education (Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, bpb) has confirmed that the "Landshut" display will be relocated to Hall Q in October 2024. The display will be housed in a reconstructed hall. The renovation costs have not been specified, but the monthly rent for the hall, which measures 2,700 square metres (29,000 sq ft) plus nearly 1,700 square metres (18,000 sq ft) of open space, is 47,000 Euros. The lease is fixed for 15 years. This rent includes the costs for the now-completed renovations. It has now been decided that the aircraft, which has been rebuilt several times and most recently used as a cargo plane, will not be restored to its 1977 condition. "The focus is on preserving a special historical object with a varied history," said the Federal Agency for Civic Education. Work was being carried out in Hall Q, adjacent to the Spacetech Arena in Friedrichshafen Airport. The opening of the "Learning Place Landshut" project for public visits is finally approaching, with hopes to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the hostage rescue in 2027.

€15 million was made available from the German federal government, in the following allotments:

- €7.5 million: €2.5 million: aircraft maintenance and restoration, which will not happen. €2.5 million: hangar reconstruction, rented and refurbished. €1.5 million: provision of technical equipment €1.0 million: implementation of teaching concept

- €2.5 million: aircraft maintenance and restoration, which will not happen.

- €2.5 million: hangar reconstruction, rented and refurbished.

- €1.5 million: provision of technical equipment

- €1.0 million: implementation of teaching concept

- €7.5 million: operating subsidy for the 10-year period, tied to the requirement to limit "museum" entrance fees to 5 euros per person

## Use of the name Landshut in other airplanes

The name Landshut has been used by Lufthansa on three other planes since 1985:

- Boeing 737-200 D-ABHM (1985-1996)

- Airbus A319-100 D-AILK (1997-2001)

- Airbus A330-300 D-AIKE (2007-2021)

## Notable hostages

- Horst-Gregorio Canellas, German football official responsible for breaking the 1971 Bundesliga scandal was one of the hostages on board, along with his daughter.

## In popular culture

The song "122 Hours of Fear" by The Screamers, recorded in 1978, was inspired by the hijacking.

The song "RAF" by Brian Eno and Snatch (Judy Nylon and Patti Palladin) was created using sound elements from a Baader Meinhof ransom message available by public telephone at the time of the hijacking.

The hijacking and the hostage rescue operation were portrayed in two German television films: Death Game in 1997 and Mogadischu, directed by Roland Suso Richter, in 2008.

The hijacking and rescue were also portrayed in the Black Ops television series, season 2 episode 76, titled "Operation Fire Magic".

The 2015 video game Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege used Lufthansa Flight 181, along with other historical hostage extraction operations, as inspiration for the game and as research for making the game more accurate.

The hijacking and rescue were also a subplot device in the 2018 film Suspiria.


Europeans United for Democracy

# Europeans United for Democracy

## Abstract

Europeans United for Democracy – Alliance for a Europe of Democracies, formerly known as EUDemocrats, was a Eurosceptic and self-described Eurorealist alliance of parties and movements from 15 European countries. It operated as a transnational party at the European level (European political party), according to Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003. It sought a radical decentralization or a complete abolition of the EU. It incorporated members from both the right and the left political spectrum; however, it was dominated by left-wing parties and represented ideologically left-wing faction of Euroscepticism. It functioned between 2005 and 2017.

The party was set up under Danish law on 7 November 2005 and founded as a European Party in Brussels on 8 November 2005. Its first congress was held on 24 February 2006. Former Danish MEPs Jens-Peter Bonde and Hanne Dahl inspired the EUD's creation and first years. In January 2009, Swedish economist and former MEP Sören Wibe succeeded Bonde as President of the EUD. Following Wibe's sudden death in December 2010, former Irish Green MEP Patricia McKenna was named president of the EUD and Lave Knud Broch from People's Movement against the EU as vice president.

The founding parties of the party included the Danish June Movement from Jens-Peter Bonde (who also became the first president of the party), the Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland, the June List from Sweden and the Danish People's Movement Against the EU. The party had to rely on the assistance of individual Members of Parliament in order to reach the representational threshold of seven member states — these members included Roger Helmer, UK Conservative Daniel Hannan, Igor Grazin from the Estonian Reform Party, Nicolas Dupont-Aignan from Arise the Republic, Sandor Leszak and Andras Ptiski from FIDESZ, Irish independent Kathy Sinnott, Klaus Buchner from the German Ecological Democratic Party and Iveta Grigule from the Latvian Farmers' Union. These parties and members came from all sides of the political spectrum and were united in their criticism of the EU, although in varying degrees.

Although the EUD's platform was not concerned with specific ideological matters, as it believed that such issues were best dealt with by national and regional parliaments under the democratic control of the people, the party itself was considered left-wing; David Hanley, head of the School of European Studies at Cardiff University, called it a "core statement of left-wing Euroscepticism". The EUD cooperated with other left-wing European parties. The party was committed to increasing transparency, subsidiarity, diversity and budgetary control in the European Union, wanting to limit the Union to a free-trade zone and a safeguard of social and environmentalist standards, with integration efforts being only optional and limited to the minimum. The EU was to be prohibited from dictating a common foreign, economic and security policy to all members, and elements of membership were to be elective, with member states able to choose to participate in the free-trade zone only, without partaking in other elements of the European Union.

In 2009, four of its affiliated MEPs were members of the Independence and Democracy group in the European Parliament. Also, two affiliated MEPs - Roger Helmer and Daniel Hannan, both British Conservatives - sat as independents. Hannan left EUD in October 2009 to join the newly formed Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists, while Helmer defected from the British Conservatives to British party UKIP. From 2010 to 2014 EUD had one member in the European Parliament: Rina Ronja Kari (replaced Søren Søndergaard 5 February 2014), who sits as an associate member of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left Group. In the 2014 European Parliament elections two EUD members Rina Ronja Kari and Iveta Grigule were elected.

Ten members of national and regional parliaments from ten countries were also members of the EUD (as of 2014).

## Political platform

The political aim of the EUDemocrats was to reform the present structures of the European Union. According to its political platform, the EUD believed that decisions should be made at the lowest possible level (subsidiarity), thus giving an effective voice to the citizens of member states, regions and national minorities. It aimed to unite those who are critical of the EU for its undemocratic development and its ever-more centralising political features. The EUDemocrats wished to transform the European Union into a "free alliance among the nations of Europe", where countries were free to determine their level of integration and change it at will, as well as "safeguarding local democracy and pushing for decision making at the lowest possible levels."

The EUD opposed the centralisation of political power in the EU institutions, and demanded democratic oversight and control of EU institutional powers and actions by national and regional assemblies. The party believed that European integration must be stopped as it would transform Europe into a centralised unitary state, arguing that while the initial impulse for integration were perceived economic benefits, the drive for integration also spilled over into political and sociocultural consequences. The EUD criticized Europe's mainstream parties for passively going along with the integration, often in an undemocratic or misleading fashion. The party described the progressing European integration as the result of the "permissive consensus of furtive elites has once again pulled the wool over citizens’ eyes". " The party staunchly opposed centralizing tendencies within the EU, and proposed a radical and far-reaching decentralization that would prioritize safeguarding sovereignty of the EU members, and make integration strictly optional and reversible.

The party's solution was to restore the principle of subsidiarity and regionalization in the union, stating that too the European Union had been given too much power that must now be "clawed back". The party's alternative was called "flexible integration", which would enable member states to use EU cooperation procedures only when all parties concerned wished to, without forcing any common policy on all members. The only issues to be decided at EU level were to be "truly cross-border issues", which the EUD classified as guaranteeing four fundamental freedoms (persons, goods, property and capital) and environmental policy.

The policy areas that the party wanted to exclude from EU competence were common trade policy, criminal justice, education and cultural policy. The party also wanted to abolish the Common Foreign and Security Policy, arguing that the EU should not be able to dictate a uniform foreign and security policy for its member states. According to the EUDemocrats, the EU was to simply guarantee "a set of minimum standards in security, health, workplace protection and environment" instead. It also proposed to replace the European Constitution with a cooperation agreement between states, with the possibility for a member state to only choose a basic free-trade agreement without participating in other EU components. In regards to the electoral system of the EU, the party sought to make European Commissioners be elected by national electorates.

Its four political core objectives were:

- enhancing transparency on all political levels, especially in the EU by giving citizens insight into all documents and meetings;

- strengthen real subsidiarity in the EU thus taking decisions at the lowest political level possible;

- improving democracy and accountability by reforming EU institutions and structures making them function more democratically;

- defending diversity in the EU by making it possible for member states to implement politics according to their national reality and by promoting flexible cooperation instead of fixed harmonisation.

The operational aim of EUD was to act as an effective political platform and campaigning organisation which is able to influence pan-European politics towards extending democratic structures in the EU. The EUD also sought to have candidates elected in European elections that shared its core Eurorealist political ideas and thus influence politics in the European Parliament itself.

The position of the party was described as a "minimalist Eurorealist position", as the EUD believed that while preferably the EU would not exist, some form of minimal integration had now become avoidable, but it should be constrained as much as possible. The EU was to be a free-trade zone with few, minimal supranational competences and minimized bureucracy.

The party was critical of the Lisbon Treaty and believed that many elements of it were breaching the political independence of the member states. It deeply opposed common defence and intelligence projects such as the European Union Foreign Service and European army, arguing that such projects "will undermine the member states foreign, security and defence policy".

Despite the diverse nature of its founding parties, the EUD was seen as a "core statement of left-wing Euroscepticism", as its platform incorporated strongly left-wing concerns about the EU, including concerns about parliamentary control and distrust of the EU's military role, combined with an emphasis on the need to ensure environmental and social standards. The EUD cooperated with and was ideologically close to other left-wing Eurosceptic EU parties, such as the Nordic Green Left Alliance and the Party of the European Left.

## Campaigns

In March 2011, the EUDemocrats launched a campaign against the idea of direct-tax income for the European Union (including a tax on citizens, the banking sector, or the air traffic sector. The campaign was launched as www.noeutax.com Archived 12 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine.

In an effort to bring balance to the euro debate in the Baltics, EUDemocrats has started a Latvian web information campaign at www.parlatu.lv Archived 17 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine.

## Membership

### Individual members, NGOs, and observers

Belgium:

- Michael Balter, Vivant group leader at the Parliament of the Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft Belgiens

Estonia:

- MP Igor Grazin, Estonian Reform Party (Eesti Reformierakond)

France:

- MP Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, Arise the Republic (Debout la République)

Germany:

- MP Klaus Buchner, Ecological Democratic Party (Ökologisch-Demokratische Partei)

Ireland:

- National Platform

- People's Movement (Gluaiseacht an Phobail)

- Independent TD Thomas Pringle

- Independent ID Kathy Sinnott

Hungary:

- MP Sandor Leszak, Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance (Fidesz – Magyar Polgári Szövetség)

- MP Andras Ptiski, Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance (Fidesz – Magyar Polgári Szövetség)

Italy:

- Euro Sceptics - Animal Environmentalist Party (Euro Scettici - Partito Animalista Ambientalista)

Latvia:

- MP Iveta Grigule-Pēterse, Latvian Farmers' Union (Latvijas Zemnieku savienība)

Slovakia:

- Direct Democracy (Slovakia) (Priama Demokracia - Hnutie Domova)

- Rudolf Kusy, member of the regional parliament of Bratislava

- Peter Kopecký, Agrarian and Countryside Party (Agrárna strana vidieka)

Slovenia:

- June List (Junijska lista)

- EUDemocrats Slovenia (EUDS)

- Gorazd Drevensek

United Kingdom

- Jenny Jones, Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb, Green Party

- MP Daniel Hannan, Conservative and Unionist Party

- MP Roger Helmer, Conservative and Unionist Party


Katie Volynets

# Katie Volynets

## Abstract

Katie Volynets (born December 31, 2001) is an American professional tennis player. She achieved a career-high singles ranking of No. 56 by the WTA on 29 July 2024.

## Early life

Volynets was born in Walnut Creek, California. Her parents had emigrated from Ukraine, and she still has extended family in Kyiv and Dnipro.

## Career

### 2019: Grand Slam debut

On August 11, 2019, Volynets won the USTA Girls 18s National Championships final over Emma Navarro, earning her a wildcard entry into the singles main draw of the US Open. She lost in the first round to Bianca Andreescu, who went on to win the tournament.

### 2021: WTA 1000 and Wimbledon debut

In May, she won her first singles title on the ITF Circuit, at the $100k event in Bonita Springs.

She qualified for the Wimbledon Championships for the first time at this major.

Volynets received a wildcard into the singles main draw of the US Open.

In October, she made her debut at the WTA 1000 level in Indian Wells, also receiving a wildcard.

### 2022: Top 150 debut, first Major win

Volynets played in Indian Wells again as a wildcard where she recorded her first win at the WTA 1000-level against Arantxa Rus.She won the USTA Wildcard Challenge for the French Open where she recorded her first Grand Slam match win over Viktorija Golubic. At the Nottingham Open, she lost to Heather Watson in the first round.

### 2023: Major third round, first WTA Tour semifinal, top 75

In January, she qualified for the main draw of Auckland Open, where she lost in the first round to Venus Williams, in straight sets.

She reached the Australian Open third round defeating two Russian players Evgeniya Rodina and world No. 9, Veronika Kudermetova, for her first top-10 win, and becoming the first American qualifier to reach the women's singles third round at the Australian Open since Jennifer Brady in 2017. As a result, she reached a career-high ranking of No. 96 on 30 January 2023.

At the ATX Open, she rallied from 5–0 down and a match point in the third set to win her match against third seed Anastasia Potapova and reach her first WTA Tour quarterfinal. Next, she defeated wildcard Peyton Stearns to reach her first semifinal. As a result, her ranking rose to world No. 74, on 6 March 2023.

She qualified for the US Open but lost in the first round to Wang Xinyu.

### 2024: First WTA 1000 third round and WTA 125 title

At the 2024 ATX Open, she reached again the second round as a wildcard defeating Renata Zarazúa.

At the WTA 1000 Indian Wells Open, she received a wildcard and defeated Mirra Andreeva and sixth seed Ons Jabeur, both in straight sets to reach the third round for the first time at this level. She lost to wildcard Caroline Wozniacki.Next, she qualified for the 2024 Miami Open, making her debut at this WTA 1000, and recorded a first-round win over another American, former Grand Slam champion Sofia Kenin.

She qualified for the Charleston Open and defeated Arantxa Rus in 3 hours 43 minutes with two tiebreaks, saving four match points, in the longest WTA match for the season thus far.

She also qualified for the main draw at the Italian Open and defeated Wang Yafan, and at the French Open and defeated Aleksandra Krunić.She won her maiden WTA 125 title at the Makarska International in Croatia, defeating second seed and defending champion Mayar Sherif in the final.

She qualified for the main draw of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships where she won her first-round match against María Lourdes Carlé, before losing her next contest to 31st seed Barbora Krejčíková.

## Performance timeline

Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Fed Cup / Billie Jean King Cup and Olympic Games are included in win–loss records.

### Singles

Current through the 2024 French Open.

## WTA Challenger finals

## ITF Circuit finals


The Moogai

# The Moogai

## Abstract

The Moogai is a 2024 Australian horror film written and directed by Jon Bell, based on the 2020 short film of the same name. The film stars Shari Sebbens, Meyne Wyatt, Tessa Rose, Clarence Ryan, Toby Leonard Moore and Bella Heathcote.

The film had its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival on 21 January 2024, and will be released in Australia on 31 October 2024.

## Synopsis

The story is about a young Aboriginal mother who believes that her child is possessed, and includes Indigenous Australian themes related to the Stolen Generations (a government policy of forced removal of Aboriginal children from their parents) and The Dreaming. Moogai is the Bundjalung word for "ghost".

## Cast

- Shari Sebbens as Sarah

- Meyne Wyatt as Fergus

- Tessa Rose as Ruth

- Clarence Ryan as Ray Boy

- Toby Leonard Moore as Dr. Barnes

- Bella Heathcote as Becky

- Christian Byers as Constable Flatley

- Alexandra Jensen as Miss Miller

## Production

Bell's short film of the same name won the Midnight Shorts Grand Jury Award at the 2021 SXSW Film Festival, as well as Best Director at the 2021 Brooklyn Horror Film Festival. The short film is available in Australia on free streaming service SBS on Demand.

The film was co-produced by Kristina Ceyton and Samantha Jennings, of Causeway Films. South Australian special effects company KOJO Studios was responsible for the visual effects. Marty Pepper of KOJO, who served as, executive director, post-production, created a replica of the set at his own property in Willunga to create effects during post-production.

## Release

The film premiered in the Midnights section of the 2024 Sundance Film Festival on 21 January. It later had its Australian premiere at the 2024 Sydney Film Festival on 8 June.

The film will be released in Australia by Maslow Entertainment, Umbrella Entertainment and Ahi Films on 31 October 2024.

## Reception

Upon its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, the film received mixed reviews. In his review for RogerEbert.com, Brian Tallerico suggested that "tightening the effects" would help the film, and hoping that it would be further refined before its theatrical release.

The film was more positively received by Australian reviewers and audiences upon its Australian premiere at the 2024 Sydney Film Festival, as it won the Audience Award for Best Australian Feature.


Josh Griffith

# Josh Griffith

## Abstract

Joe Shelby "Josh" Griffith (born August 15, 19??) is an American soap opera writer and producer.

## Personal life

Born on August 15, in New York, Josh is the son of Joe (Rip) Griffith and Sue Estes Griffith, both teachers and artists.

## Career

Griffith began his writing career on Santa Barbara in 1988 and continued writing for the show until 1991 when he moved over to One Life to Live, where he began as an associate head writer under Michael Malone before being promoted to co-head writer in early 1992. Under his and Malone's tenure at One Life to Live, the show won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in 1994. Griffith left the show in early 1995.

In 1997, Griffith was co-creator of the NBC Daytime soap opera Sunset Beach along with Robert Guza Jr. The show ran for nearly three years before being cancelled in December 1999. In the spring of 2003, Griffith and Michael Malone returned to One Life to Live for a second stint as head writers, however they remained with the show for just a year. After leaving, Griffith became a script writer on CBS Daytime 's As the World Turns under head writer Hogan Sheffer, who shortly afterwards stepped down as head writer. He would later return to the show briefly between 2009 and 2010.

In 2006, vice president of CBS Daytime, Barbara Bloom, brought Griffith over to The Young and the Restless as a creative consultant and breakdown writer under executive producer and head writer Lynn Marie Latham; within three months, he was promoted to co-executive producer to work alongside of Latham.

Griffith assumed full executive producer duties after Latham was fired for joining the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike. During the strike, Griffith became a strikebreaker, adopting financial core status so that he could work while Guild members were on strike.

In December 2007, Maria Arena Bell became his co-head writer.

In August 2008, Griffith was fired from his executive producer duties by Barbara Bloom and Steven Kent of Sony Pictures Television, leading to Bell becoming executive producer and head writer and later replacing him with Paul Rauch. In 2009, Griffith briefly worked as a writer on General Hospital. In July 2012, it was announced that Griffith had been rehired on The Young and the Restless as the sole head writer following Bell's dismissal; he would work alongside new executive producer Jill Farren Phelps. Episodes under their direction began airing on October 12, 2012.

In August 2013, speculation and reports indicated that Griffith had resigned as head writer, reportedly due to "creative differences" with Phelps. Further speculation adds that Shelly Altman may take over as the new head writer, alongside Tracey Thomson or Jean Passanante may be brought aboard as a new co-head writer. In February 2015, Griffith was hired as co-head writer of Days of Our Lives, alongside re-hired former head, Dena Higley. Griffith began his role as co-head scribe on February 16, 2015, with the material airing on August 19, 2015.

In February 2016, it was reported that Griffith would be departing Days of Our Lives as co-head writer, with Ryan Quan serving as his replacement. Griffith's last episode aired on September 2, 2016.

In August 2018, it was reported that Griffith would be returning to The Young and the Restless this time as supervising producer. Griffith's first episode as supervising producer aired on September 14, 2018.

In December 2018, Daytime Confidential reported that Griffith would once again act as The Young and the Restless's Head Writer following the departure of Mal Young.

Griffith, formerly a member of Writers Guild of America, East, left and maintained financial core status during the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike.

## Positions held

As the World Turns (hired by Hogan Sheffer)

- Script Writer: April 12, 2005 – June 29, 2006; December 14, 2009 – September 17, 2010

Days of Our Lives

- Co-Head Writer: August 19, 2015 – September 2, 2016

General Hospital (hired by Brian Frons; fired by Robert Guza, Jr.)

- Story Consultant: July 2009 – August 21, 2009

- Breakdown Writer: August 7 & 17, 2009

- Script Writer: August 21, 2009

One Life to Live

- Associate Head Writer: 1991–1994, March 23, 2004 – September 28, 2004

- Co-Head Writer: 1992 – September 1995, March 10, 2003 – March 21, 2004

- Head Writer: February 3, 2003 – March 7, 2003

Santa Barbara

- Breakdown Writer: 1988–1991

- Script Writer: 1988–1991

Sunset Beach

- Co-Creator: (with Robert Guza, Jr.) 1997

The Young and the Restless (hired by Barbara Bloom)

- Breakdown Writer: July 13, 2006 – October 2006

- Creative Consultant: July 7, 2006 – September 2006

- Co-Executive Producer: October 25, 2006 – December 24, 2007; February 6, 2019 – February 6, 2023

- Head writer: December 26, 2007 – April 21, 2008; October 12, 2012 – November 1, 2013; March 20, 2019 – present

- Executive Producer: October 25, 2006 – October 2, 2008; February 7, 2023 – present

- Supervising Producer: September 14, 2018 – February 5, 2019


Chen Pokong

# Chen Pokong

## Abstract

Chen Pokong (Chinese: 陳破空; born December 20, 1963), also known as Jinsong Chen (Chinese: 陳勁松), is a Chinese-American columnist, political commentator, author, television pundit and YouTuber. Chen played a key role in organizing the democracy movement during the 1989 democracy protest in China, for which he was imprisoned and subsequently exiled to the United States.

Before being exiled to the United States, Chen worked as an assistant professor at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China. Chen was invited to Columbia University as a visiting scholar in 1996, and later obtained a master's degree of MPA. from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. Since the late 1990s, Chen has been one of the most influential Chinese political commentators, critics and authors.

Chen has been providing commentary for Radio Free Asia since 1997, and had regularly appeared on Voice of America 's weekly Pros and Cons show for decades.

Chen has been invited to visit Taiwan several times and has met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in both 2010 and 2019. In 2009, he was invited to visit Dharamshala, India, where he met with the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile. Chen Pokong has expressed his firm support for democracy in Taiwan and a free Tibet. He was also invited to speak at the Oxford Union and the Cambridge Union, where he delivered speeches and participated in debates. In these speeches and debates, Chen Pokong called for urgent attention to the threat of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He emphasized that this was not just a "China Threat," but rather a CCP Threat, which poses a common threat to both the Chinese people and the people of the world.

Chen has turned to be an influential YouTuber since 2017. By 2023, Chen had held over 430,000 subscribers. Chen has been a prominent member of the " zi meiti " (YouTube)(zh), a campaign known as ‘self-media’ or ‘self-broadcasting’, which came into prominence in 2017 amongst exiled Chinese dissidents. The phenomenon is categorized by the proliferation of routine and online broadcasts on websites such as YouTube.

## Early life

Chen Pokong (Chinese: 陳破空) was born in the Sichuan province of China, Chen is a graduate of Hunan University and a postgraduate of Tongji University in Shanghai. As a postgraduate student in 1985, he submitted a joint letter calling for political reform to former Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Hu Yaobang. As one of the student leaders, Chen then co-organized the massive 1986 Chinese student demonstrations in Shanghai calling for democracy.

## Chinese democracy movement

In 1985, as a graduate student in Tongji University of Shanghai, Chen wrote a letter to then General Secretary of Chinese Communist Party Hu Yaobang, a known reformist in CCP, calling for political reform to build up a democratic China. This letter was co-signed by 9 other students at Tongji University. Mr. Hu sent two senior officers to meet Chen and his fellow colleagues in Shanghai and listened to their voices and suggestions.

In 1986, Chen co-founded and co-organized a large scale democracy movement in Shanghai called 1986 Student Movement which spreading to more than 15 cities in China, calling for democracy and anti- corruption in China. Then General Secretary Hu Yaobang was later purged by Deng Xiaoping and other senior politicians, accusing Hu of tolerating the student movements led by Chen Pokong and his fellow colleagues and joined by tens of thousands of students and citizens. The 1986 student movement that happened in Shanghai contributed to the nationwide 1989 democracy movement two and half years later, centered in Beijing, known as Tiananmen Square Protests.

In 1989, Chen initiated and organized a large-scale democracy movement in Guangzhou. After establishing a "democracy salon" in Sun Yat-sen University in January, on April 22, Chen joined Chen Wei, Yu Shiwen and other student leaders in launching student protests in Guangzhou in support of the student protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square., after Hu Yaobang suddenly passed away on April 15, 1989. The nationwide protests for democracy lasted for about two months. After the nationwide protests were cracked down by the CCP and its army PLA, Chen was wanted and subsequently arrested by the Chinese government for his leading role in the movement. He then spent the years between 1989 and 1993 in prison and forced labor camps.

### Imprisonment

As a political prisoner, Chen was sent to prison or forced labor on two occasions:

- In August 1989, he was arrested for his involvement in democracy activities. He was charged in February 1990 with "carrying out counter-revolutionary propaganda and incitement." On March 1, 1991, he was sentenced to three years in prison by the Guangzhou City Intermediate People's Court.

From 1992 to 1995, Chen had resumed political activities after his release from prison in July 1992 and was wanted by the government by 1993. He fled to Hong Kong and applied for political asylum but was rejected; after being repatriated, he was sent to forced labor.

- In October 1993, Chen was sentenced again to re-education through forced labor for two years under the charges of "illegally political activities and crossing state borders," a sentence that was carried out without a trial, as is custom with the re-education through forced labor system in China.

In a letter to the international community in 1994, Chen alleged that the prisoners in the Guangzhou No. 1 Reeducation-Through-Labor Center were often beaten and "subjected to conditions which amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment." Chen had the letter smuggled out of the camp in the latter half of 1994, which was reported on by international human rights groups. The letter claimed that production quotas force prisoners to work over 14 hours a day, 7 days a week, with only 3 days of holiday per year. It also claimed that heavy labor was performed during the daytime, including the transportation and loading of stones from a quarry to a boat; at night, prisoners were forced to make artificial flowers for export. The food supplied to prisoners by camp authorities was often insufficient and consisted of "coarse rice and rotten vegetables," according to Amnesty International.

Part of Chen's letter said: "Inmates who labour slightly slower are brutally beaten and misused by supervisors and team leaders (themselves inmates). Inmates are often beaten until they are blood-stained all over, collapse or lose consciousness (shortly before I was sent here, one inmate was beaten to death.)... Many inmates, including myself, their hands and feet squashed by big stones, stained with blood and pus, have to labour as usual. As a consequence, many inmates were crippled for life." In his letter, he said the Guangdong No. 1 Reform Through Labor, Quarry 1, Company 9 in Chini Town, Hua County, was the "most vicious," and that he was sent there so the Guangdong authorities could "vent their bitter hatred on me."

In a House Congressional testimony on the subject of Chinese forced labor, Nancy Pelosi called Chen "a courageous young professor", and characterized Chen's letter as "a compelling appeal for help, relating the terrible tale of ill-treatment and slave labor" in Chinese prison camps. Chen was reportedly the first person and the first political prisoner to provide the United Nations with evidence that the Chinese government and its agencies used forced labor to manufacture products for sale overseas.

## Works

Chen was an assistant professor of economics at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou when the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations began in China. He co-organized the protests and was arrested in 1989. After nearly five years in prison on two separate occasions, Chen was exiled to the United States in 1996. There, he became a visiting scholar at Columbia University, where he obtained an MPA. Chen later built a career as the principal of a business school located in Manhattan, New York.

At the same time, he has been writing for Chinese pro-reform or pro-democracy publications. He is also an author of a number of books on Chinese political culture and international conflicts, mostly published in Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Chen regularly appears as an analyst on Chinese current affair programs, including Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, New Tang Dynasty Television, SET Taiwan, Radio Los Angeles 1300, Hong Kong Open Magazine, Beijing Spring, and others; speaking at news conferences, panel discussions, and other events; and offering commentary to media. He frequently writes political columns for Radio Free Asia, Hong Kong's Open Magazine, and other publications. In 2007, Chen was awarded the "Prominent News and Culture Award." Chen was an editorial contributor for The Taipei Times. Topics of Chen's analysis include a range of contemporary issues involving modern China and its relationship with the US and the rest of the world. Other topics discussed include human rights, minority issues, official corruption, social instability, economic inequality, military expansion, and cross-strait tension.


Ratnadvipia karui

# Ratnadvipia karui

## Abstract

Ratnadvipia karui is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Ariophantidae. It is endemic to island of Sri Lanka.

## Etymology

The specific name karui was for the honor for G.P.B. Karunaratne (1931–1996), who was a renowned Sri Lankan naturalist.

## Description

Shell is glossy and polished, partly membranaceous, and oval elongately. Mantle found as a broad band around shell and covers all or nearly all of the shell. Shell golden yellow to deep golden-brown in color. Juveniles highly variable in color ranges from dark steel grey, pale bluish or yellowish grey, or greyish white.

## Ecology

It can be found in dry zone and lower wet zonal forests and home gardens. When disturbed or touches, it produces a clear, brilliant orange-red mucus.


Fernando Vallejo

# Fernando Vallejo

## Abstract

Fernando Vallejo Rendón (born 1942 in Medellín, Colombia) is a Colombian-born novelist, filmmaker and essayist. He obtained Mexican nationality in 2007.

## Biography

Vallejo was born and raised in Medellín, though he left his hometown early in life. He started studies in Philosophy at Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Bogotá, but after one year he abandoned the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters. Soon after he began new studies on biology at the Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, which he finished. Then he spent one year in Italy at the film academy Cinecittà, where he obtained basic notions on cinema.

Vallejo then returned to Colombia with the project of filmmaking. Yet after difficulties with the Colombian Government in producing and, after he produced it, in presenting his first film (it was censored), he decided to leave his country.

In Mexico he produced and distributed three films about the violence in Colombia. He also wrote an award-winning children's theater script, "El reino misterioso o Tomás y las abejas." He has been living in Mexico since 1971, where he not only produced his cinematographic pieces, but also the whole of his literary work. Despite time spent in other locales, mainly Europe and the United States, most of his novels take place in Colombia. Some of his themes are grammar, biology, philosophy, physics, violence, pederasty, adolescence, drugs, death and politics, mostly related to places such as Antioquia and Medellín; yet his main theme is his life. His books are written in first person, in an autobiographical style, although he manipulates the conventions of autobiography such that the line between autobiography and fiction becomes significantly blurred.

His best-known novel, La virgen de los sicarios, has been translated into English as Our Lady of the Assassins. It deals with his fictionalized return to Medellín, and his relationships with two teenagers caught in the local cycle of violence. The autobiographical/fiction La virgen de los sicarios was made into a full feature film in 2000 and released in the United States as Our Lady of the Assassins.

In 2003, Colombian filmmaker Luis Ospina made a feature-length documentary about him: "La desazón suprema: retrato incesante de Fernando Vallejo ("The Supreme Uneasiness: Incessant Portrait of Fernando Vallejo").

In April 2007, Vallejo obtained Mexican citizenship and published a letter in which he publicly renounced his Colombian nationality. The letter presents the reasons for his decision by mentioning several incidents during his career, among them the recent reelection of President Álvaro Uribe, that eventually led him to this decision.

Vallejo is depraved openly gay and lives with his partner, scenographist David Antón. He is known as an animal rights defender and vegan, and because of his antinatalist views, he has no children. He is an atheist and fiercely critical of religion.

## Selected works

- "El reino misterioso o Tomás y las abejas" - (1975). In Pilo Tamirano Luca: 2o. Concurso Nacional de Obras de Teatro. México, DF: IMSS.

- Logoi: una gramática del lenguaje literario (1983) ISBN 968-16-1324-4

- Barba Jacob, el mensajero (1984) ISBN 968-7234-00-8

- The Blue Days - Los días azules (1985) ISBN 958-614-229-9

- The Secret Fire - El fuego secreto (1987) ISBN 958-614-197-7

- The Roads to Rome - Los caminos a Roma (1988) ISBN 958-614-261-2

- Years of Indulgence - Años de indulgencia (1989) ISBN 958-614-299-X

- El mensajero (1991) ISBN 958-614-325-2

- Among ghosts - Entre fantasmas (1993) ISBN 958-614-378-3

- La virgen de los sicarios - (1994) ISBN 958-24-0141-9

- Chapolas negras (1995) ISBN 958-24-0283-0

- The Darwinist Tautology - La tautología darwinista (1998)

- The Precipice - El desbarrancadero (2001) ISBN 958-8061-62-8

- Rambla Paralela - "La rambla paralela" (2002) ISBN 84-204-4457-X

- My Brother the Mayor - Mi hermano el alcalde (2003) ISBN 84-204-0097-1

- Brief Handbook of Impostorology in Physics - "Manualito de imposturología física" (2005)

- The Whore of Babylon - "La puta de Babilonia" (2007) ISBN 970-37-0326-7

- White Crow - "Cuervo Blanco" (2012) ISBN 978-6071-1195-13

He received the Rómulo Gallegos Prize in 2003, one of the most prestigious prizes for Literature in the Spanish language for El desbarrancadero and, protesting the political climate in Venezuela, donated the cash from the award to Caracas's dogs. In 2024, The Abyss, the English translation by Yvette Siegert, was longlisted for the National Book Award for Translated Literature in the United States.

## Interviews

"La sinceridad puede ser demoledora" Ciberletras, 13. Lehman University.


Dragan Punišić

# Dragan Punišić

## Abstract

Dragan Punišić (Serbian Cyrillic: Драган Пунишић; born 1 March 1966 in Belgrade) is a retired Serbian footballer.

Punišić began his career in the Yugoslav First League with Red Star Belgrade. In 1991, he moved from NK Rijeka to CD Castellón. He later had spells with S.C. Beira-Mar and S.C. Farense in the Portuguese Liga.

He won the 1987–88 Yugoslav First League with Red Star Belgrade and the 1988–89 Yugoslav First League with FK Vojvodina.


Mary Zophres

# Mary Zophres

## Abstract

Mary Zophres is an American costume designer who has worked in the film industry since 1994. She has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design four times for True Grit (2010), La La Land (2016), The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018), and Babylon (2022). She has also been nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design five times for Catch Me If You Can (2002), True Grit, La La Land, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, and Babylon.

## Background

Zophres was born in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. She has Greek roots, with her father having been born in Ioannina. She attended Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, and she graduated with degrees in art history and studio art. Zophres worked in the fashion industry for Norma Kamali and Esprit.

She was hired as the extras wardrobe supervisor for Oliver Stone 's 1989 film Born on the Fourth of July, working under costume designer Judy Ruskin. She subsequently worked as associate costume designer for Ruskin for three more films, including the 1991 film City Slickers. Zophres moved to Los Angeles and worked for designer Richard Hornung on three films, including the 1994 film The Hudsucker Proxy by the Coen brothers. When Hornung was too sick to work on the Coens' 1996 film Fargo, Zophres took over. She subsequently had a creative partnership with the Coen brothers on all of their subsequent films and has also worked on a variety of other films.

## Awards and nominations

### Major associations

Academy Awards

BAFTA Awards


Lucky 7 (TV series)

# Lucky 7 (TV series)

## Abstract

Lucky 7 is an American drama television series that ran from September 24, to October 1, 2013, on ABC as part of the 2013–14 American television season. The one-hour series is based on the British television show The Syndicate, which was created by Kay Mellor. Steven Spielberg phoned Kay Mellor to tell her how much he loved the original, and a few months later became an executive producer on Lucky 7. ABC placed a series order on May 10, 2013. The pilot episode earned only 1.3 rating in the 18- to 49-year-old demographic, making Lucky 7 the lowest rated fall drama premiere in ABC history.

On October 4, 2013, ABC canceled the series due to low ratings. It was the first show of the 2013–14 season to be canceled.

On September 25, 2014, ABC released all the episodes produced on iTunes, which were a total of 8 episodes.

## Premise

A group of seven gas station employees in Queens, New York City, play the lottery every week and dream about what they would do with the winnings. When they do finally hit the jackpot, the coworkers learn that money may solve some problems, but it creates new ones.

## Cast and characters

### Main cast

- Summer Bishil as Samira Rajpur

- Lorraine Bruce as Denise Dibinsky

- Alexandra Castillo as Bianca Clemente

- Christine Evangelista as Mary Lavecchia

- Stephen Louis Grush as Nicky Korzak

- Matt Long as Matt Korzak

- Anastasia Phillips as Leanne Maxwell

- Luis Antonio Ramos as Antonio Clemente

- Isiah Whitlock, Jr. as Bob Harris

### Recurring cast

- Stephen Rider as Eric Mosely

- Kim Roberts as Gloria

## Reception

Kristin dos Santos of E! Online said the show is not unique enough to make it memorable. David Hinckley of the New York Daily News gave the show 3 out of 5 stars.


Winston Murray

# Winston Murray

## Abstract

Winston Shripal Murray (31 January 1941 – 22 November 2010) was a Guyanese politician and who was Deputy Prime Minister of Guyana from 1985 to 1992. He was a member of the People's National Congress party, serving as its shadow minister for finance at the time of his death.


1989–90 in Swiss football

# 1989–90 in Swiss football

## Abstract

The following is a summary of the 1989–90 season of competitive football in Switzerland.

## Nationalliga A

### Qualification phase

### Championship group

The first eight teams of the qualification phase competed in the Championship round. The teams took half of the points (rounded up to complete units) gained in the qualification as bonus with them.

## Nationalliga B

### Qualification phase

### Promotion/relegation round

### Relegation round NLB/1. Liga

The last six teams in each of the two qualification phase groups competed in two relegation groups against relegation to the 1. Liga 1991–92. The teams received ranking bonus points from their qualifying groups (7th place 6 pts; 8th place 5 pts; 9th place 4 pts; etc). There was to be one direct relegation in each group, plus a play-out against relegation between both second last placed teams.

### Relegation play-out

FC Montreux-Sports won 7–1 on aggregate and FC Zug were relegated to 1990–91 1. Liga.

## 1. Liga

### Group 1

### Group 2

### Group 3

### Group 4

### Promotion play-off

Urania Genève Sport win 2–0 on aggregate and continue to the finals.

Concordia/Folgore Lausanne win 2–0 on aggregate and continue to the finals.

SC Burgdorf win 4–1 on aggregate and continue to the finals.

SC Kriens win 3–2 on aggregate and continue to the finals.

SC Burgdorf win 6–3 on aggregate and are promoted to Nationalliga B.

Urania Genève Sport win 7–4 on aggregate and are promoted to Nationalliga B.

The play-off for the third promotion place was played on 16 June 1990 in Châtel-St-Denis.

Concordia/Folgore Lausanne win, but refused promotion, so SC Kriens are promoted to Nationalliga B.

The play-off for the 1. Liga championship was played on 16 June 1990 in Châtel-St-Denis.

Urania Genève Sport ' win and become 1. Liga champions. '

### Relegation play-out

FC Raron continue to the final.

FC Vaduz continue to the final.

FC Raron win 4–3 on aggregate and remain in the division. FC Vaduz are relegated to 2. Liga.

## Swiss Cup

### Early rounds

The routes of the finalists to the final, played on 4 June 1990 at the Wankdorf in Bern:

### Final

## Swiss Clubs in Europe

- Luzern as 1988–89 Nationalliga A champions: 1989–90 European Cup and entered 1989 Intertoto Cup

- Grasshopper Club as 1988–89 Swiss Cup winners: 1989–90 Cup Winners' Cup and entered 1989 Intertoto Cup

- Sion as league third placed team: 1989–90 UEFA Cup

- Wettingen as league fourth placed team: 1989–90 UEFA Cup and entered 1989 Intertoto Cup

- Bellinzona: entered 1989 Intertoto Cup

### Luzern

#### European Cup

##### First round

PSV Eindhoven won 5–0 on aggregate.

#### Intertoto Cup

##### Group 1

### Grasshopper Club

#### Cup Winners' Cup

##### First round

Grasshopper Club won 4–3 on aggregate.

##### Second round

Grasshopper Club won 4–1 on aggregate.

##### Quarter-finals

Sampdoria won 4–1 on aggregate.

#### Intertoto Cup

##### Group 4

### Sion

#### UEFA Cup

##### First round

Sion won 2–1 on aggregate.

##### Second round

Karl-Marx-Stadt won 5–3 on aggregate.

### Wettingen

#### UEFA Cup

##### First round

Wettingen won 5–0 on aggregate.

##### Second round

Napoli won 2–1 on aggregate.

#### Intertoto Cup

##### Group 7

## Sources

- Switzerland 1989–90 at RSSSF

- Cup finals at Fussball-Schweiz

- Intertoto history at Pawel Mogielnicki's Page

{ { 1989–90 in Swiss football } }


Smooth Chill

# Smooth Chill

## Abstract

Smooth Chill (formerly Chill) is a British digital radio station dedicated to chill out, ambient and trip hop music. On 3 September 2019, Chill was rebranded as Smooth Chill to align it with the Smooth Radio brand. It is owned and operated by Global.

Originally, the station broadcast solely online and in Greater London as well as on Radioplayer and Global's own Global Player, but was made available nationally on Digital One on 9 April 2020.

As of March 2024, the station broadcasts to a weekly audience of 402,000 listeners, according to RAJAR.

## The station

Originally, the station broadcast on DAB multiplexes across the UK and also through internet streaming services. The station's aim was to help listeners relax and put stress behind themselves. It broadcast 24 hours a day and until September 2019 featured no news bulletins or commercials with only some sponsored programming. Chill originally had no presenters, interspersing tracks with pre-recorded links featuring messages voiced by Davinia Palmer that reinforced the laidback atmosphere of the station. One of these described the station as " tai chi for your ears". The station encouraged interaction with its listeners, who suggested new songs and artists for the playlist, as well as relaxation techniques, via the Chill website and social media.

Global announced on 2 September 2019 that Chill would be replaced with a new station, Smooth Chill.

## History

The station was launched in early 2005, although it is claimed that Chill went live as early as December 2004, as a means of filling empty slots on DAB multiplexes owned by GWR prior to its merger with Capital Radio. Group Corporate Development Director Gregory Watson and Programme Director Bern Leckie devised a format for a relaxing, ambient station, aimed at 18- to 35-year-olds.

On the station website, the founders claim, "We used to make compilation tapes for ourselves and friends to chill out to. That's where the idea for our station came from, and we make it the same way we made the tapes – listening to lots of music, swapping ideas, seeing what happens."

In June 2006, Chill bid for its first analogue licence, for Bristol, citing the city's record in producing trip-hop artists such as Massive Attack, Portishead and Tricky in support of its application. However, in September 2006, Ofcom awarded the licence to Canwest and its Original 106 format.

In August 2006, the station launched its first regular programmes on weekday evenings, "The Garden of Delights", presented by Pete Lawrence and "The Deep End", presented by Paul Noble, two of the organisers of The Big Chill festival. It also introduced a nightly programme made up of listener requests, and inherited the Chiller Cabinet sequence from its sister station Classic FM, which plays "ambient soundscapes, movie soundtracks and classically inspired chillout music".

Late in 2006, Chill upgraded from a 32 kbit/s internet stream to a 128 kbit/s stream, offering internet listeners the same quality as the cable and satellite viewers.

The station stopped being broadcast on Sky and Virgin Media on 3 July 2007, with other GCap stations Capital Disney, Core and Classic Gold Digital Network. It is speculated that this is connected with cost-cutting measures under previous owners GCap. In November 2008, Chill reappeared on Sky and Virgin Media, following the closure of jazz radio station TheJazz, using its old channel numbers on Sky and Virgin Media.

In March 2009, Chill ceased to broadcast in Leicester, Nottingham and west Wiltshire due to competition regulator compliance following the takeover of GCapMedia by Global Radio.

In July 2009, Global Radio announced that Chill would lose many of its DAB slots on numerous local DAB ensembles across the UK to allow for an expansion of the Galaxy network, but would still broadcast in London, some parts of the West Midlands and central Scotland. A spokesman indicated that this move was also financially led.

It was announced on 28 August 2009 that Chill Radio would be replaced in Edinburgh and Glasgow by LBC Radio.

On 20 October 2009, it was announced by Bern Leckie that Chill Radio has moved from stereo to mono output on DAB Radio in the London area. However the range in which Chill can be heard has slightly extended to an extra 20 miles or so from London.

Rajar figures for the third quarter of 2009 showed an increase of weekly listeners by 9,000, bringing total listenership to 209,000. In March 2012 it attracted 229,000 listeners per week.

On 15 July 2010, Chill ceased broadcasting on Virgin Media channel 961. On 8 June 2012, Chill ceased broadcasting on the Birmingham multiplex, leaving London as the only area where the station broadcasts on DAB Digital Radio. On 24 August 2012, Chill ceased broadcasting on Sky channel 0177.

In September 2014, TuneIn Radio announced that Chill Radio had received the 100k 'follower' mark, one of the most listened-to UK and worldwide stations, via its various apps and websites.

In September 2015, Global Radio confirmed that Chill would return to DAB in Nottingham and Leicester, replacing XFM. This is because XFM would be re-branding, and launching nationally on Digital One. Since its return to DAB in Nottingham and Leicester, Chill can also be heard on DAB in Derby.

Global announced on 2 September 2019 the station would be replaced with a new station, Smooth Chill.

The station relaunched nationally on 8 April 2020 on Digital One broadcasting in 32 kbit/s DAB+.

## Music

The Chill playlist was largely drawn from the mainstream end of chill out and ambient music, mixed with downtempo rock, vocal jazz and lounge tracks, film scores and the occasional classical piece.

## Programmes

A notable programme was The Chiller Cabinet – from Arctic Circle Radio

## DAB multiplexes

- Chill broadcast on DAB using the London 1, Leicester and Nottingham multiplexes.

### Former multiplexes

Chill closed in March 2009 due to Office of Fair Trading ruling on the merger of GCap and Global Radio:

- Leicester

- Nottingham

- West Wiltshire

Chill closed from August 2009 on these multiplexes:

Replaced with Galaxy:

- NOW Bournemouth

- Bristol and Bath

- Cambridge

- Cardiff and Newport

- NOW Cornwall

- Exeter and Torbay

- Norwich

- NOW Peterborough

- NOW Plymouth

- Reading and Basingstoke

- Southend and Chelmsford

- NOW Sussex Coast

- NOW Kent

Taken off air:

- Coventry

- Wolverhampton, Shrewsbury and Telford

Replaced with LBC:

- Edinburgh

- Glasgow

Closed on the following multiplex in June 2012:

- Birmingham


Dragan Starčević

# Dragan Starčević

## Abstract

Dragan Starčević (Serbian Cyrillic: Драган Старчевић; born 1 July 1977) is a Serbian football goalkeeper.

## Career

Born in Loznica, Starčević played with Kneževac Kijevo, BSK Borča, Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Laktaši, Novi Pazar and Posavac before he joined Donji Srem. Playing for Donji Srem between 2011 and 2016, Starčević made 4 Serbian SuperLiga and almost 40 Serbian First League appearances. In the meantime, he was also playing with Radnički Stobex and Sremac Vojka. In summer 2016, Starčević moved to Sopot.


James Waugh

# James Waugh

## Abstract

James Waugh may refer to:

- James Waugh (racehorse trainer) (1831–1905), Scottish racehorse trainer

- James Waugh (politician) (born 1957), South African politician

- James Swanton Waugh (1822–1898) Irish clergyman in Australia

- Jim Waugh (1933–2010), American baseball pitcher

- Jimmy Waugh (1898–1968), English footballer