Virgil Gomis

# Virgil Gomis

## Abstract

Virgil Vilela Gomis (born 16 April 1999) is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for Pouzages Bocage.

He came through the FC Mantois academy he joined the youth academy of Nottingham Forest, where he signed professional terms in 2018. Gomis failed to make a single first team appearance for the Reds and was loaned out to Braintree Town, Notts County, Macclesfield Town and Grimsby Town before being released in 2021. He recently had a short spell with Paris FC B.

## Career

### Nottingham Forest

After three seasons with the Nottingham Forest academy, Gomis joined National League side Braintree Town on a one-month loan on 31 October 2018, where he scored on his debut with the club. On 31 January 2019, Gomis again moved on loan, this time to Forest's city rivals Notts County, where he would remain for the rest of the 2018-19 season.

On 9 August 2019, Gomis joined League Two side Macclesfield Town on loan for the season. He scored his first goal for Macclesfield in an EFL Cup tie against Blackpool on 13 August 2019. Gomis was recalled from his loan early by Nottingham Forest on 3 January 2020.

On 16 October 2020, Gomis joined Grimsby Town on a season-long loan. On 5 January 2021, Grimsby decided to terminate his loan prematurely following only six first team appearances across all competitions.

Following the 2020-21 season, Gomis was not listed on Forest's retained player list.

### Return to France

Gomis appeared for Paris FC 's Championnat National 3 reserve team in September 2021.

In 2023, Gomis signed for French regional side Pouzages Bocages FC.


Japanese sandfish

# Japanese sandfish

## Abstract

The Japanese sandfish (Arctoscopus japonicus), also known as the sailfin sandfish, is a species of fish of the Percomorpha (perch-like) clade in the order Trachiniformes, being one of the two genera in the family Trichodontidae, the sandfishes. Known in Japan as hatahata (ハタハタ, 鰰, 鱩, 燭魚), it is a commercially important fish especially for Akita and Yamagata prefectures. Its habitat occurs in sandy-mud bottoms ranging from the Sea of Japan to the Okhotsk Sea.

As a food source, the fish has mostly been sourced locally from the coastal region of the Sea of Japan, and has been designated the official prefectural fish of Akita Prefecture. The fish, which is scaleless, may be prepared whole as braised or grilled fish, and has a mucilaginous consistency. It is also dried to make stockfish; salted, dried, and made into himono; and cured in miso as misozuke. It is the main ingredient of the fish sauce called shottsuru. The egg masses are known as burikko. In Korean the fish is called 도루묵 dorumuk.

The fish had also been used dried or in fish meal form as fertilizer, and shipped to agricultural areas at one time, into the 20th century.

## Life cycle and behavior

The Japanese sandfish has a life span of 5 years, attaining a typical fork length of 20 centimetres (7.9 in). It is a deep sea fish that usually inhabits sandy and muddy sea floors in waters 200 to 400 metres (660 to 1,310 ft) (550 metres (1,800 ft)) deep, but migrates from November to January to spawn in shallow rocky beds of seaweed. The males reach sexual maturity at 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 years of age and beyond, and females at the 2-year-old stage; the individuals do not die after single spawning, and have several breeding cycles during their life span.

It preys and feeds on amphipods, copepods, mysidacea, krill, squid, and fish.

### Distribution

The Japanese sandfish is distributed in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, particularly the Sea of Japan to the Okhotsk Sea, Kurile Islands and Kamchatka Peninsula.

Three broad regional population groups had been postulated by Okiyama (1970) based on tagging, and later mitochondrial DNA analysis confirmed these grouping on a genetic basis. The population groups are:

- Western Japan (WJ) – This is a group that migrate the coast of the Sea of Japan from Tottori to Akita Prefecture. It comprises the "northern Sea of Japan" and "western Sea of Japan" subgroups. The spawning grounds of the group has been assumed to be off all along the coast, but bulk spawning grounds are absent around the Noto Peninsula and any further west/south, and in fact, it has been reported that the western Sea of Japan group's spawning grounds occur in the east coast of the Korean peninsula.

- South Hokkaido (SH) – This is a group with breeding grounds in the Pacific Ocean off Hokkaido. It consists of Ishikari Bay, Uchiura Bay, Hidaka, Kushiro, and Nemuro subgroups.

- Eastern Korea (EK) – This group has breeding grounds in the eastern coast of the Korean Peninsula.

Catch production in the Tōhoku region (Northeastern Japan)'s Pacific coast (otherwise known as " Sanriku ") is modest, and no regular spawning grounds have been confirmed. Migration routes have not been charted, but their travel range is considered extensive, since individuals from the Hokkaido and Sea of Japan population groups have been captured in the Sanriku shore.

### External morphology

The Japanese sandfish is silvery underneath, and light brown above with dark brown streaks flecked with spots. Tall body depth, though not as tall as the Pacific sandfish (Trichodon trichodon). Head and trunk are scaleless.

A large mouth, oblique and turned upwards, is lined with rows of fine teeth. The gill-flap on the cheek (preopercle) each has five sharp spines. It has a first dorsal and a second dorsal fin that are separated by a gap. The pectoral fins are particularly large. The fish lacks an air-bladder. It is active nocturnally, and during the day time lies buried in the mud or sand on the sea bottom, with only the mouth and eyes (and the spine) visible.

The egg mass (roe) is usually green, but may also have yellow, red, or brown coloration. Pigment components present in the eggs include bilin and carotenoids such as idoxanthin, crustaxanthin, and vitamin A2 aldehyde (3-dehydroretinal). The bilin and retinal produces the base green color, and the amount of relative idoxanthin content is the key determinant of the color variation. Study of its prey (such as the amphipods) or the fish's stomach contents reveal negligible traces of idoxanthin and crustaxanthin, which means the fish must be internally converting other carotenoid substances such as astaxanthin that are abundant in their food into idoxanthin and crustaxanthin, given that fish in general cannot build their own carotenoid wholly out of building block materials. Researchers hypothesize that the intake of astaxanthin influences the idoxanthin concentration in the body, which result in the egg color change.

## Classification

The Japanese sandfish was classified under the Perciformes (perch-likes) order, Trachinoidei suborder, and Trichodontidae (sandfishes) family. However, mitochondrial DNA analysis indicates that the Trichodontidae is classified within the suborder Cottoidei of the Scorpaeniformes order.

### Similar species

- Pacific sandfish, Trichodon trichodon, or ezo hatahata in Japanese, found from the Aleutian Islands to Alaska down to California.

## Nomenclature

The Japanese name hatahata may be written as 鰰, which consists of the fish radical 魚 combined with the character kami (神) "god". Shokusanjin (Ōta Nanpo) records the lore that it came to be written this way "because within its scales arises the pattern of Mount Fuji, and was celebrated as auspicious fish," though the actual species has no scales.

An alternate Japanese name is kaminari-uwo (雷魚) "thunder fish", which derives from their spawning (and catching) season coinciding with the months when thunderstorms become frequent. In fact, hatahata is an old onomatopoeia representing the sound of the thunderclap, whose use is attested in the 10th century Kagerō Nikki, and which is the root of the verb hatata-ku "to thunder."

In the Akita dialect, hatahata sounds like hadahada to non-natives, because the " ta " is locally pronounced in voiced unaspirated dakuon, so that hadahada is sometimes listed as a local name for the fish. In Akita, the fish sometimes bears the name " satake uo " after the Satake clan who were rules of the land around 1600. But the Satakes were originally rooted in Hitachi Province (present-day Ibaraki Prefecture), and legend has it that the fish followed the masters from the old country (Shokusanjin notes that the legend is given in the Akita Suginaoshi monogatari (秋田杉直物語)). In Tottori Prefecture the fish is called shirohata or kitaha.

## Fishing practices

The species is caught by bottom trawling offshore and by set-netting and gillnetting the coastal spawning waters. The fish stock down further south are caught by Danish seine fishing.

In Akita Prefecture, each household used to buy them in bulk by the crates (5 or 10 crates at a time) when in season, and the surplus would be preserved as salted fish or as nukazuke to be consumed as a protein source over the winter.

FAO Statistics record that in 1950, the annual catch was 10,000 tonnes (9,800 long tons; 11,000 short tons) accounted solely in Japan, by the beginning of the 1970s Korean fisheries were catching half as much or more in tonnage as the Japanese. The global peak catch occurred in 1971 with 56,700 tonnes (55,800 long tons; 62,500 short tons) total, but by the end of the decade in 1979 there was a sharp collapse in the fish stock resulting in an annual catch of only 11,546 tonnes (11,364 long tons; 12,727 short tons).

In Akita Prefecture, peak catch volume reached 15,000 tonnes (15,000 long tons; 17,000 short tons) per year, but overfishing, possibly with an interplay of water temperature "regime" shifts, led to persisting depletion of stock, so that the fishermen of Akita Prefecture, led by its Fisheries Cooperative Association self-imposed a total moratorium on the catch from 1992 to 1995 In 1999, four participating prefectures formed a fisheries management organization to manage the fish stock, followed in 2003 by a formal Resource Recovery Plan (資源回復計画) for these prefectures. In Korea, the catch was 25,000 tonnes (25,000 long tons; 28,000 short tons) per year in 1971, but suffered a similar decline to 4,000 tonnes (3,900 long tons; 4,400 short tons) by 2008, and that country has also instituted conservation measures.

Tottori prefecture is another area with significant participation in catching this species. Whereas Akita targets egg-carrying adults approach the surface to spawn, Tottori fishing practices capture the deep water migrating populations by bottom trawling, so that the caught fish tends to be fattier, though they do not carry eggs. The catch season for Tottori spans from September to May.

### Fishing restrictions

- In 1999 the Aomori, Akita, Yamagata, and Niigata prefectures instituted restrictions prohibiting capture of fish measuring less than 15 cm (5.9 in).

- Accidents and drownings involving sports fishermen going overboard as well as poaching egg masses (scavenging eggs washed ashore also constitute poaching) has prompted regulations and patrolling efforts by the Fisheries Cooperative Association and police. Foraging, possessing and engaging in sales of egg masses are prohibited (Aomori and Akita) Fishing method restrictions (Aomori, Akita, Yamagata)

- Foraging, possessing and engaging in sales of egg masses are prohibited (Aomori and Akita)

- Fishing method restrictions (Aomori, Akita, Yamagata)

## Uses

At one time, dried hatahata was one type of fish-based fertilizer (fish manure) being trafficked in Japan.

### Food ingredient

The fish lacks scale, has few small bones, and the spine separates easily from the flesh, so that they are usually poached or broiled whole, or just with the head off. If the fish is fresh, snapping the bone at the base of the tail beforehand, will make it easier for the spine to come off easily after broiling.Fresh hatahata can be served salted and broiled, or be poached in a pot flavored with soy sauce, sake kasu, and especially shottsuru. In Akita, the pot dish would be flavored with shottsuru, a fish sauce traditionally made by curing the fish in brine.

Another preparation is the dengaku (slathered with sweet miso paste and broiled), which is eaten not only in Akita but also in the Shōnai region around Sakata, Yamagata.

The fish is preserved in various ways, such as nukazuke (pickled in rice bran and salt), himono (as dried fish), as mirinboshi, (mirin -based flavored dried fish). It is also made into a preserved narezushi; in Akita the preserving medium consists of rice and koji (Aspergillus oryzae mold for brewing sake) but in Tottori Prefecture the hatahata narezushi is known locally as shirohatazushi and uses okara (soy pulp).

Fresh hatahata is suitable for mizuni or poaching or simmering in water (the dish in Yamagata is called yu-age), and eaten with soy sauce. It can be made into hatahata-jiru (miso soup), but the miso should be dissolved in the broth before the fish is plunged, otherwise the fish falls apart.

In South Korea, the fish (known there as dorumuk (Korean: 도루묵)) is eaten in communities in Gangwon Province and elsewhere along the Sea of Japan. In Korea it is mainly an ingredient for jjigae hot pot dishes, but sometimes the roe-laden females are grilled and eaten.

### Shottsuru

Locally, a fish sauce called shottsuru is made from this fish. The sauce which literally means "salty juice", is made by pickling and fermenting the salted fish, and straining out the debris. The fish sauce is used to flavor the shottsuru nabe, or pot dish that uses this flavoring to cook the hatahata with vegetable and other ingredients. In the Akita dialect, the pot dish also sometimes called shottsuru kayaki, with " kayaki " being the local term for nabe or hot pot dish.

### Roe

In the Akita dialect, the roe of this species is called buriko. The fish is caught during its spawning season, when many of the females are loaded with eggs 2–3 millimetres (0.079–0.118 in) in diameter. The eggs are surrounded by slimy mucus.

Fresh roe that is cooked will burst and make light popping sounds when eaten, but roe from the fish preserved in salt or miso turn rubbery and hard to chew, resulting in a more blunt sound that sounds like buri buri which resulted in its name.

The Japanese folk ballad known as Akita Ondo mentions the " Oga buriko" in the lyrics, which is a reference to the roe clusters.


Toronto Zoo

# Toronto Zoo

## Abstract

The Toronto Zoo is a zoo located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Encompassing 287 hectares (710 acres), the Toronto Zoo is the largest zoo in Canada averaging around 1.2 million visitors a year. The zoo is divided into seven zoogeographic regions: Indo-Malaya, Africa, Americas, Tundra Trek, Australasia, Eurasia, and the Canadian Domain. Some animals are displayed indoors in pavilions and outdoors in what would be their naturalistic environments, with viewing at many levels. The zoo also has areas such as the Kids Zoo, Waterside Theatre, and Splash Island. The zoo has one of the most taxonomically diverse collection of animals on display of any zoo worldwide and is currently home to over 3,000 animals (including invertebrates and fish) representing over 300 species. The zoo is open to the public every day of the year.

The zoo is a corporation owned by the municipal government of Toronto. Founded by Hugh A. Crothers and business partner, John Cameron Egan, who became the first Chairman of the Metro Toronto Zoological Society in 1966, the zoo opened on August 15, 1974, as the Metropolitan Toronto Zoo. The word "Metropolitan" was dropped from its name when the individual municipalities that made up the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto were amalgamated into the current city in 1998. The zoo is located near the Rouge River on the western border of Rouge Park in the city's east end district of Scarborough.

## History

### Predecessor

Around 1880, businessman Harry L. Piper (1839–1921) established a Zoological and Acclimatization Society (also as Toronto Zoological Garden) and opened a zoological garden at Old Post Office Lane at Toronto Street north of King Street East, then in 1881 to a lot at Front Street and York Street next to the Queen's Hotel and finally to the eastern end of the Exhibition Grounds in 1885. Piper was also Alderman for St. John's Ward from 1877 to 1880 and 1883 to 1888.

In 1888, the Riverdale Zoo opened in Toronto, as a typical example of a zoo during this time, with animals displayed as curiosities in dark cages and cramped enclosures. Animals for Piper's zoo moved to this site.

In 1963, a private citizen's brief to build a new zoo was introduced by Hugh Crothers to the Chairman of the Council of the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto, William Allen. Allen asked Crothers to head up a committee to investigate the feasibility of a new zoo. By 1966, a group of eleven people became The Metro Toronto Zoological Society with Crothers as the first chairman.

Original plans were to have the park be located in the Leaside area, but the site was later used to create the E.T. Seton Park and the Ontario Science Centre. In 1966, Mr. Crothers and the 10 other citizens met at City Hall to form the Metropolitan Toronto Zoological Society. In 1967, the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto (Metro Toronto) approved the Rouge Park site in Scarborough for a new zoo. The following year, a feasibility study on the new zoo was produced by architect Raymond Moriyama. In 1969, a master plan was created by Johnson Sustronk Weinstein and Associates that was approved by the Zoological Society. Construction of the new zoo began in 1970. On August 15, 1974, the Metropolitan Toronto Zoo was open to the public. The zoo increased from the original Riverdale Zoo's 3 hectares (7.4 acres) to 287 hectares (710 acres), and is now one of the largest zoos in the world. The Zoo introduced some designs to enhance the public's viewing experience and the animals' living comfort. Animals were displayed in naturalized environments and grouped according to their zoogeographic region. The old zoo was converted into an urban farm called Riverdale Farm, which opened in 1978.

### Since opening

In 1976, the Zoo opened the Canadian Domain Ride, a monorail -like automated guideway transit service that travelled into the Zoo's Canadian Domain area, located in the Rouge Valley. The ride's operations were placed on hold in July 1994 after an accident. The monorail has since been mothballed with many sections becoming overgrown with vegetation. A 2009 study determined it would cost upwards of $800,000 to return the infrastructure to use and upgrade it to current standards. A fundraising drive was started in 2010 and has since raised $1.15 million. In the interim, the current Zoomobile uses five (4-car set) Chance Coach Sunliner trams.

Between 1980 and 1984, several new exhibits were added to the zoo, including snow leopards, gaur, a children's zoo known as Littlefootland, and new indoor habitats for the zoo's African elephants and Indian rhinoceroses, as well as the official opening of the Zoomobile.

In 1985, Qing Qing and Quan Quan – a pair of giant pandas, on loan for three months from the People's Republic of China, were displayed at the Zoo. The Zoo broke all previous attendance records as thousands of visitors came to see these rare animals. Over the years, the Zoo has presented other rare or unusual animals, including golden monkeys (1986), koalas (1988, 1996, 2002), Tasmanian devils (the late 1970s until 1998), and white lions (1995, 2012 onwards).

In 1987, the zoo rebranded the South American Waterfall area as the Maya Temple Ruin exhibits, featuring some architectural decor. Animals such as capybaras, jaguars and spider monkeys remained while llamas and similar animals were relocated. In 1988, the zoo completed new reptile exhibits in the Australasia Pavilion, the spotted-necked otter exhibit in the Africa Pavilion, and the Primate Wing in the Americas Pavilion.

The Malayan Woods Pavilion opened in 1993. The Sumatran tigers arrived in 1994. Naked mole-rats went on exhibit in 1996. Komodo dragons become a feature exhibit in 1997.

In 1997, zoo workers went on strike for nine weeks, however, the zoo remained open. After the strike, they signed a minimum compliment contract.

In 1998, with the amalgamation of the individual municipalities that made up Metro Toronto, the Zoo was officially renamed the Toronto Zoo. That same year, the Zoo opened the Africa Savanna, the largest expansion in its history.

#### 2000s

In 2001, the zoo remodeled half of the Africa Pavilion into the Gorilla Rainforest, featuring the world's largest indoor habitat for western lowland gorillas, as well as a giant fish tank for Lake Malawi cichlids. The zoo's Splash Island, an educationally themed water play area, opened in 2002. This was followed by an open-air amphitheatre in 2003 and the Kids Zoo in 2004.

While the SARS outbreak in 2003 had a devastating effect on the tourism industry in Toronto, the Zoo fared well with local residents supporting the zoo by visiting often. The Zoo's attendance has recovered well with many record-breaking annual attendance numbers since then, with the exception of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In November 2006, the Toronto Zoo temporarily closed the Australasia Pavilion for redevelopment. The pavilion underwent two years of construction, resulting in new exhibits including a Great Barrier Reef area in the location of the former Edge of Night area. The Great Barrier Reef exhibit consists of a large 7-metre (23 ft) long community tank featuring brownbanded bamboo sharks, damselfish, and triggerfish. Lionfish were also added, as well as enlarged seahorse tanks, sea anemones and moon jellyfish. The exhibit opened on May 16, 2008, alongside the reopening of the Australasia Pavilion.

In May 2007, Dinosaurs Alive opened, which featured 18 animated dinosaur models and life-size skeleton replicas. It featured the largest T-Rex model in North America. This exhibit was enjoyed by over 600,000 visitors and was included with zoo admission. The exhibit closed in October 2007.

On August 21, 2007, the polar bear, llama, Dall sheep and mara exhibits were closed for the construction of the new 10-acre (4.0 ha) Tundra Trek area. Tundra Trek featured new exhibits for the polar bears, reindeer, and Arctic wolves, as well as new additions to the zoo, such as Arctic foxes, snow geese and snowy owls. Returning to the zoo to take up residence in the new polar bear exhibit were three orphaned polar bears initially raised at the zoo and named by the community: Aurora, Nikita, and Inukshuk. The Tundra Trek opened on August 1, 2009.

On May 16, 2008, Stingray Bay opened for the first time. This interactive exhibit allowed the public to touch, feel, and feed live stingrays with their stingers removed. The exhibit returned to the zoo on a regular basis but closed permanently on October 8, 2012, to make room for the Giant Panda Research Center. In September 2008, the Toronto Zoo Board approved a motion to dissolve the Toronto Zoo Foundation and bring fundraising and development in-house. All parties agreed to the transfer of existing donor funds to the Toronto Community Foundation.

On August 15, 2009, the Toronto Zoo celebrated its 35-year anniversary. During that weekend, the public got to learn about some of the zoo's oldest residents, including Marg the demoiselle crane and Monty the West African dwarf crocodile.

On September 9, 2009, the south side of the African Rainforest Pavilion was closed for construction. The pavilion opened in early 2011, with new exhibits for pygmy hippos, red river hogs, an African softshell turtle, and ring-tailed lemurs replacing the mandrills, as well as a variety of exhibits for fish and reptiles.

#### 2010s

The Frank Schofield Memorial / Asian Gardens opened the first phase in June 2010 and includes a statue erected in Schofield's honour.

On May 21, 2011, the black-footed penguin exhibit opened to the public. This exhibit once housed South African fur seals and was closed in 2010 and modified to house the black-footed penguins.

In 2011, the city started looking at the process of selling the zoo to a third party after Toronto Mayor Rob Ford claimed there were many interested buyers. This process was short-lived with the city later deciding the zoo will remain an entity of the city.

In April 2012, the zoo lost its accreditation in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums due to a disagreement regarding sending its three elephants to PAWS, an animal sanctuary in California that is not AZA-accredited. The zoo began looking for a new accredited home for its elephants in October 2011, but the Toronto city council voted to send the elephants to California instead, ignoring the recommendations of the zoo's professional staff. The zoo re-applied for AZA accreditation in March 2013, and they later returned to the AZA program. The three elephants were transported to the PAWS sanctuary in California on October 16, 2013.

In 2012, on a trade mission to China, it was announced that the Toronto Zoo and the Calgary Zoo would be lent two giant pandas from China for the span of ten years, with the pandas splitting the time equally between the two facilities. The pandas, named Er Shun and Da Mao, arrived at the Toronto Zoo on Monday, March 25, 2013, greeted by prime minister Stephen Harper. Their exhibit opened on May 18, 2013. The pandas originated from the Chongqing Zoo and Chengdu Panda Base. In October 2015, Er Shun gave birth to twin cubs named Jia Panpan and Jia Yueyue. The exhibit closed on March 18, 2018, when the pandas were moved to the Calgary Zoo.

In December 2014, the renovated Eurasia area, renamed the Eurasia Wilds, opened, featuring a new aviary with Eurasian eagle-owls and Steller's sea eagles and a new exhibit for the snow leopards.

In April 2016, plans to install a maglev operation to replace the Zoo Domain Ride surfaced. Plans have been confirmed in November 2018 with the consortium (which includes Magna International and Lockheed Martin) paying for construction and the first 15 years of operation.

On May 11, 2017, over 400 employees went on strike, and zoo management decided to close the zoo, due to job security negotiations falling out, though conservation programs continued. During the strike, three snow leopard cubs, two clouded leopard cubs, five cheetah cubs, and three Vancouver Island marmot pups were born. The strike ended on June 15, 2017, after the Union and Zoo Board of Management signed and ratified a four-year agreement.

In December 2019, the zoo opened an after-hours night walk experience called Terra Lumina, in partnership with Montréal-based company Moment Factory. The experience is designed as a hypothetical look into the year 2099, showing positive change having occurred in the world as humanity made changes in the decades between now and then to respect and live in harmony with wildlife, with strong indigenous influences. The experience closed early on March 14, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and resumed on August 14, 2020.

#### 2020s

The Toronto Zoo closed to all visitors starting March 14, 2020, due to concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic. Essential zoo staff remained on-site during the closure to continue caring for the animals. During this closure, a Masai giraffe calf was born. The zoo reopened as a drive-through experience beginning May 23, 2020, and began re-admitting walkthrough guests beginning July 4, 2020, with the drive-through experience continuing to run until October 5, 2020. The zoo closed to visitors once again starting November 23, 2020, due to the second lockdown of the Greater Toronto Area, and reopened June 12, 2021.The zoo implemented a mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policy starting October 25, 2021, which requires all staff and visitors aged 12 years and older to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and to show their proof-of-vaccination documents in order to enter the entire Zoo grounds. The zoo closed for a third time on January 5, 2022, due to growing concerns around the COVID-19 Omicron variant, and reopened on February 10, 2022.

In June 2023, the zoo opened an outdoor habitat for the Sumatran orangutans, marking the first time at the zoo that the species would be viewable outside of the Indo-Malaya Pavilion.

In late 2023, extensive renovations on the main entrance began, with plans set for it to become a "Conservation Campus" featuring a new exhibit for the zoo's North American river otters as well as updated guest services buildings and research facilities.

On August 15, 2024, the zoo celebrated its 50th anniversary. The zoo took this opportunity to honour several longtime residents, including Puppe the Sumatran orangutan and Charles the Western lowland gorilla, the only two remaining animals from the zoo's first year of operation in 1974. A new bronze statue of Charles was unveiled outside of the African Rainforest pavilion as part of the festivities.

## Exhibits

The Toronto Zoo is divided up into seven different geographic regions. Each region showcases animals and plants from that area of the world.

### Indo-Malaya

The Indo-Malayan area contains an outdoor area, as well as a pavilion that exhibits plants and animals from South and Southeast Asia. Featured animals in this area include Indian rhinoceroses, babirusas, Indian peafowls, Sumatran orangutans, great hornbills, false gharials, reticulated pythons, Sumatran tigers, clouded leopards, and white-handed gibbons.

Species previously held in the Indo-Malaya section include gaurs, Malayan tapirs, and golden snub-nosed monkeys.

In 2023, the zoo completed construction on a large outdoor orangutan exhibit on the site of the gaur habitat that allowed for further study of orangutan social behaviours.

### Africa

Opened in 1998, the African Savanna became the zoo's largest expansion in history. The African Savanna combined with the African Rainforest Pavilion encompasses most of the southern third of the zoo. The African Savanna featured species include white lions, Grévy's zebras, olive baboons, greater kudus, a white-headed vulture, cheetahs, southern white rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses, spotted hyenas, watusi cattle, warthogs, crested porcupines elands, African penguins and Masai giraffes.

The African Rainforest Pavilion holds the world's largest indoor gorilla exhibit, home to Charles, as well as dozens of other African species, including meerkats, red river hogs, dwarf crocodiles, and pygmy hippopotamuses. The south side of the pavilion was completely refurbished in 2011 and showcases ring-tailed lemurs and Aldabra giant tortoises.

Species previously held in the Africa section include African elephants, mandrills, sable antelopes, impalas, caracals, spotted-necked otters, blue wildebeests and South African fur seals.

### Canadian Domain

The Canadian Domain is situated in the Rouge Valley. The Canadian Domain was built in accompaniment with the Canadian Domain Ride, which exhibited North American animals in their native environment. Featured species in this area include wood bison, moose, cougars, bald eagles, raccoons, and grizzly bears.

Species previously held in the Canadian Domain section include muskoxen, elks and Canada lynxes.

### Americas

This area of the zoo houses animals from both North and South America. The Americas Pavilion displays a wide variety of New World monkeys, amphibians, reptiles, fish, and insects. Some of its most popular residents are the white-faced sakis, golden lion tamarins, two-toed sloths, American alligators, black-footed ferrets, and river otters. The Mayan Temple Ruins subsection features capybaras, blue-and-yellow macaws, American flamingos and jaguars.

Species previously held in the Americas section include black-handed spider monkeys, giant Pacific octopuses, prehensile-tailed porcupines, llamas, dall sheep, and maras.

### Tundra Trek

The Tundra Trek opened in 2009, taking over land that used to feature several Americas exhibits. This area became the sixth region of the zoo, and showcases a variety of Arctic animals including porcupine caribou, polar bears, snow geese, and Arctic wolves. The new state-of-the-art exhibits are larger in order to encourage breeding. Educational theming emphasizes the lives of the Inuit and the effects of climate change on wildlife.

Species previously held in the Tundra Trek section include Arctic foxes and snowy owls.

### Australasia

The Australasia Pavilion features animals from the Australian mainland, as well as surrounding islands. Featured species in this area include Western grey kangaroos, red-necked wallabies, short-beaked echidnas, southern hairy-nosed wombats, kookaburras, Victoria crowned pigeons, Fly River turtles, Lau banded iguanas and Komodo dragons. This pavilion once had an "Edge of Night" section to highlight crepuscular and nocturnal marsupials, but this was later converted into the Great Barrier Reef exhibit featuring pot-bellied seahorses, moon jellyfish, lionfish, clown triggerfish, and a 7-metre (23 ft) long community tank.

Species previously held in the Australasia section include koalas, Matschie's tree kangaroos, emus and Tasmanian devils.

### Eurasia Wilds

Often regarded as the oldest part of the zoo, Eurasia received a large overhaul in 2014. The featured species in this section of the zoo are snow leopards, Amur tigers, West Caucasian tur, mouflon, red pandas, and Bactrian camels. With the area's redesign to the Eurasia Wilds Steller's sea eagles were added; while several other species are now only viewable from the Zoomobile, including lion-tailed macaques, yak, and the herd of Przewalski's horses.

Species previously held in the Eurasia section include scimitar oryxes, wisents, dholes, chamois, and Japanese macaques.

From May 18, 2013, to March 18, 2018, the area included two giant pandas: Er Shun (female) and Da Mao (male). With the pandas' arrival, the zoo has refurbished its seasonal attraction area into an extensive educational centre – the Giant Panda Interpretive Centre. In 2014, after her first estrus, Er Shun was artificially inseminated – the first such procedure performed on a panda in Canada. No baby was born in 2014 and it was believed that Er Shun experienced a pseudopregnancy, a phenomenon common in giant pandas. In 2015, Er Shun was again artificially inseminated, resulting in the first birth of giant pandas in Canada. Twin cubs, one male (later named "Jia Panpan" indicating "Canadian Hope") and one female ("Jia Yueyue" indicating "Canadian Joy"), were born on October 13, 2015. The cubs were raised by Er Shun, with "twin swapping" occurring through the first four months of their lives until they were large and healthy enough that zoo staff were confident of their survival.

### Discovery Zone

The Discovery Zone is geared towards children by featuring educational themes and exhibits. The most prominent area is a children's water park, Splash Island, which features landscaping and themed objects depicting the three states of water. Exhibits are grouped around various themed groups of aquatic animals, including rivers, lakes, and oceans. Waterside Theatre is an open-air enclosure where live demonstrations of a variety of animals are shown, including goats, grey crowned cranes, ravens, macaws, and ground hornbills. A third area, the Kids Zoo, consists of a variety of animals that children can interact with, such as ferrets, skunks, and armadillos. The Discovery Zone also hosted Dinosaurs Alive and the Stingray Bay exhibit for their respective durations.

## Conservation

The Toronto Zoo makes considerable effort to conserve endangered species from around the world with the help of other accredited zoos. Captive breeding is often considered one of the most difficult and elusive rewards of captive animal care, but the Toronto Zoo's efforts have been met with much success, and even resulted in the re-introduction of many species.

Some of the conservation initiatives that the Toronto Zoo has participated in are as follows:

- The Toronto Zoo was the first zoo to establish a captive-breeding program for black-footed ferrets with the goal of releasing them back into their wild habitat and, after years of successful breeding, had released more than 120 animals by 2011. This included re-introducing the ferrets, which had been extinct in the wild, to Saskatchewan's Grasslands National Park beginning in 2009.

- The zoo has rescued orphaned polar bears from the wild: two in 2001, later named Aurora and Nikita and one in 2003, later named Inukshuk after the Inuit wayfinding landmark.

- In 2008, the Toronto Zoo participated in 2008 Year of the Frog, where researchers were sent to study a deadly fungus causing problems to amphibians and reptiles worldwide.

- The Toronto Zoo has acted and continues to act in the captive breeding, and re-introduction into the wild of critically endangered and otherwise threatened Canadian species, including the Vancouver Island marmot, loggerhead shrike, and Blanding's turtle, as well as Great Lakes fishes. The zoo also runs a program for habitat preservation within the Great Lakes Region, focusing on the protection of endemic species of freshwater mussels. In the past, the zoo contributed heavily to increasing the numbers of threatened species, including the wood bison and the trumpeter swan.

- The Toronto Zoo has actively contributed to international conservation efforts and reintroduction programs, including for the Puerto Rican crested toad, and for fish in the African Great Lakes (including the Singidia tilapia, or ngege).

- The zoo has bred additional rare Ontario species such as the redside dace and eastern massasauga rattlesnake.

- One zoo staff member has been key in preservation of critically endangered Malagasy freshwater fish species, both at the zoo and in Madagascar.

The Toronto Zoo has been collecting and recycling cell phones since 2006. In 2010, it was awarded the distinction of being the top cell phone recycler out of the Eco-Cell's 175 participating wildlife organizations in North America. Other participating wildlife organizations include the San Diego Zoo and the Philadelphia Zoo. Coltan is a mineral ore mined and refined in central Africa for metals used in the electronics industry. This unregulated mining industry has a dramatic impact on the region's biodiversity. Recycling cell phones helps to preserve the critical Lowland gorilla rainforest habitat in Africa by decreasing the demand for these minerals. This is of particular interest to the Toronto Zoo as its gorilla habitat has expanded with the addition of a newly born baby gorilla. The Toronto Zoo's cell phone recycling program is composed of two parts: Retrocell is the zoo's official cell phone refurbisher and the Ontario Electronic Stewardship Program processes the remainder of the phones that are collected by the Toronto Zoo.

In addition, the Toronto Zoo also participates in, and has been a key centre for, the Species Survival Plans of dozens of species, maintaining healthy captive populations of animals which may one-day be re-introduced to their former homes. Some notable SSP species the zoo has successfully bred over the years include the western lowland gorilla, Sumatran orangutan, golden lion tamarin, Sumatran tiger, Amur tiger, snow leopard, cheetah, Przewalski's horse, Indian rhinoceros, Matschie's tree-kangaroo, African penguin, and Komodo dragon. The Toronto Zoo has bred hundreds of species, with many of these breedings being firsts for Canada, North America, and even the world.

### Notable births and hatches

In 2003, a Komodo dragon was hatched for the first time in Canada.

In 2004, two female West African dwarf crocodiles successfully hatched on October 1, the first hatching of this species in Canada.

Three Sumatran tigers were born at the zoo to parents Brytne and Rengat in 2003, and two more were born in 2006.

In 2006, three orangutans were born and named Jingga, Kembali, and Budi through a TVOKids naming contest.

In 2006, a Matschie's tree kangaroo was born, one of three born in North America in 2006. Later named Noru, it was sent to the Lincoln Zoo, and was paired with a mate named Milla who gave birth to twins – a first for this species.

On June 5, 2007, two rare snow leopards were born, the first birth in thirteen years. Another snow leopard was born in 2009, alongside three more in 2017, and two more in 2024.

Two Przewalski's horses, one male and one female, were born on June 22, 2007, the first birth in fifteen years. The zoo also successfully bred Przewalski's horses in 2008, 2009 and 2020.

The zoo has also been very successful in breeding Bactrian camels, the most recent birth coming in 2023.

In July 2015, two wood bison calves were born as the result of artificial insemination using frozen-thawed sperm that had been collected from a male wood bison in Elk Island, Alberta, in 1980.

Through the weekend of September 26–27, 2015, the zoo's white lioness Makali gave birth to four cubs: the first pure-bred white lions born at the Toronto Zoo.

On October 13, 2015, Er Shun, the visiting female giant panda, gave birth to two cubs. This was the first successful reproduction of giant pandas in Canada. A male, later named Jia Panpan, was born at 3:31 AM with a weight 187.7 grams (6.62 oz), while the other, a female, later named Jia Yueyue, was born at 3:44 AM and weighed 115 g. Their sexes were unknown during the first few months of their lives, being determined in February 2016. The cubs were kept off display until the age of 5 months. In March 2016, the cubs were given the names Jia Panpan and Jia Yueyue to signify Canadian hope and Canadian joy, respectively, and revealed to the public before the March Break of that year.

On Remembrance Day (November 11) of 2015, a female polar bear named Juno was born to mother, Aurora. Named for Juno Beach, Juno would be adopted by the Canadian Army and was granted the rank of Honorary Private, and was later promoted to Honorary Corporal on her first birthday and Honorary Master Corporal on her fifth birthday.

On February 17, 2016, 11-year-old Indian rhinoceros Ashakiran, on loan from the Los Angeles Zoo, gave birth to a male named Nandu. With fewer than 3,555 left in the wild, Indian rhinos are classified as a vulnerable species.

In May 2017, the Toronto Zoo had its first births of clouded leopards to mom, Parvati, and dad, Mingma.

On July 17, 2017, a wood bison calf was born at the Toronto Zoo as a result of embryo transfer from a bison at the University of Saskatchewan.

On May 1, 2021, three Amur tiger cubs were born to mom, Mayzira, with one surviving.

On June 13, 2024, two Red panda cubs were born to mom, Sakura.

## Scientific contributions

The Toronto Zoo has conducted extensive reproduction research on wood bison (Bison bison athabascae), in an effort to find means of supporting wild populations in northwestern Canada which may be reproductively compromised due to disease. In July 2015, two wood bison calves were born as the result of artificial insemination using frozen-thawed sperm that had been collected from a male wood bison in Elk Island, Alberta, in 1980. On July 17, 2017, a wood bison calf was born at the Toronto Zoo as a result of embryo transfer from a bison at the University of Saskatchewan.

## Controversies

On November 30, 2009, Tara, the zoo's largest African elephant, died. She was found lying down when staff arrived in the morning and was unable to be raised to her feet. Tara was the third elephant in 14 months to die at the zoo and the fourth in three years.

Elephant deaths preceding Tara's:

- June 2009: Tessa was knocked to the ground by another elephant, unable to stand unassisted after being raised to her feet by staff and equipment.

- September 2008: Tequila, cause of death not released.

- July 2006: Patsy was euthanized due to long-term degenerative arthritis

In the days following Tara's death, both Zoocheck Canada and U.S.-based In Defence of Animals, as well as game show host Bob Barker of The Price is Right fame, called for the zoo to close the exhibit and send the remaining three elephants to a sanctuary. Toronto City Council endorsed this highly controversial decision. In September 2013, plans were finalized to move Toka, Thika and Iringa to a sanctuary in California in October 2013. The three elephants were transported on land during a 50-hour-long drive with stopovers. Iringa died on July 22, 2015, at the sanctuary in California.

## Media

- Zoo Diaries was a Canadian documentary television series which aired on Life Network. Its focus was on the relationship between the animals and their keepers, allowing viewers to experience what it is like to bond with some of the world's most exotic creatures. There have been 74 episodes produced since 2000 by DocuTainment Productions. The first two seasons of the show were also released on DVD/VHS.

- Undercover Boss Canada took place in 2011 and was filmed at the Toronto Zoo with the CEO.

- Rick Mercer Report featured Canadian comedian Rick Mercer at the Toronto Zoo in 2008 and early 2016 with Mercer visiting the pandas.

- Multiple YouTube videos released by the zoo have gone viral, being shared by news agencies and social media sites to millions of viewers around the world. Notably, videos of visiting giant panda Da Mao have received significant attention.

- The Zoo began releasing the Wild for Life podcast in early 2019 sharing interviews with staff on the behind-the-scenes conservation, animal care and research work done by the facility.


Darko Jovandić

# Darko Jovandić

## Abstract

Darko Jovandić (Serbian Cyrillic: Дарко Јовандић; born 4 February 1982) is a Serbian retired footballer who played as a defender.

## Career

After playing with Proleter Zrenjanin and Budućnost Banatski Dvor, Jovandić moved abroad and joined Azerbaijan Top League club Baku. He subsequently returned to his country and signed with Banat Zrenjanin. In early 2008, Jovandić went across the border again in order to play for Slovenian PrvaLiga side Celje.


2024 Los Angeles Angels season

# 2024 Los Angeles Angels season

## Abstract

The Los Angeles Angels season is the 64th season of the Los Angeles Angels franchise in the American League, the 59th in Anaheim, and their 59th season playing their home games at Angel Stadium.

On July 21, the Angels beat the Oakland Athletics 8-5 to win their 5,000th game as a franchise, which is the first for an expansion team.

On September 11, the Angels were eliminated from postseason contention for the tenth straight year following a 6–4 loss to the Minnesota Twins.

## Season standings

### American League West

### American League Wild Card

### Record against opponents

Updated with the results of all games through September 12, 2024.

## Offseason

The Angels finished the 2023 season 73–89, 17 games out of first place. They missed the playoffs for the 9th consecutive season and now tied for the longest current playoff drought with the Tigers. Both teams have not made the playoffs since 2014.

### November–December 2023

On November 2, 2023, infielders Mike Moustakas, Gio Urshela, C. J. Cron, Outfielder Randal Grichuk and P / DH Shohei Ohtani all elected free agency.

On November 8, 2023, the Angels hired Ron Washington to become the teams 23rd manager in team history.

### Transactions

#### March 2024

## Opening Day lineup

The team will open up the season on the road at Baltimore on March 28.

## Game Log

The Angels opened the 2024 season on the road at Baltimore and lost 11–3.

## Farm system

All coaches and rosters can be found on each team's website.


Virgile Reset

# Virgile Reset

## Abstract

Virgile Reset (born 3 August 1985) is a French football midfielder, who currently plays for Sporting Toulon Var.

## Career

Reset began his career with Lorient and joined than in summer 2006 to Sion. On 21 July 2009 the 24-year-old forward has left FC Sion to sign a three-year deal with Vannes OC.

## Honours

- Swiss Cup: 2008–09


Jesper Fast

# Jesper Fast

## Abstract

Jesper Fast (born December 2, 1991) is a Swedish professional ice hockey right winger of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL). Fast was drafted by the New York Rangers in the sixth round (157th overall) of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft and joined the Rangers organization in 2013.

A Nässjö native, Fast started his career with two seasons in the J20 SuperElit junior hockey league, leading his team in goals in his final season. He started his first extended season with the Swedish Hockey League in 2010 and spent three full seasons with the HV71, tying for the team lead in goals in 2012–13 and earning the Rinkens riddare for most sportsmanlike player.

Internationally, Fast played for Sweden at the 2011 World Junior Championships.

## Playing career

### Junior career

A native of Nässjö, Sweden, Jesper Fast was born on December 2, 1991. He changed his last name to "Fast" in 2012. Fast began his hockey career with the HV71 U18 team in Sweden's J20 SuperElit junior hockey league. He debuted in the 2007–08 season, tallying 26 points (15 goals, 11 assists) in 30 games. The next season, as a 16-year-old, Fast played in 37 regular season games and seven playoff matches for HV71's U20 team. He scored 17 points (9 goals, 8 assists) and had 24 penalty minutes, including two goals, one assist and eight penalty minutes in the postseason. In 2009–10, Fast recorded 49 points (23 goals, 26 assists), the highest he had scored in all three categories during his SuperElit league career. He led the team in goals and placing second in points and third in assists. He tied for fifth in the overall league for regular season points, and also had two assists in three playoff games.

Fast also made his Swedish Hockey League debut in 2009–10, playing in two games with HV71, although he failed to record a point in either match. He returned to the SuperElit league for the start of the 2010–11 season, scoring 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in six games with the HV71 U20 team, before permanently joining the Swedish Hockey League.

### Swedish Hockey League

At age 18, playing in a limited role for HV71 during the 2010–11 season, Fast scored 16 points (7 goals, 9 assists) in 36 games, with a +6 plus-minus, 6 penalty minutes and two power play goals, exceeded most observers' expectations. Fast credited playing alongside Johan Davidsson as part of the reason for his success and growth in confidence. He was held scoreless with a -3 plus-minute in three postseason games as the first-place HV71 was swept from the first round of the playoffs by Allmänna Idrottsklubben (AIK) in an upset. In the 2011–12 season, Fast had three multi-point games, including a career-high four assists and five points against AIK on October 4. That game started a streak of 10 points (one goal, nine assists) over six games, which continued to an October 20 match against Frölunda HC. However, Fast's season was cut short after he suffered a fractured ankle during a November 29 game against Brynäs IF. He missed three months as a result, but nevertheless recorded 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) in 21 games for the season, matching his Swedish Hockey League career high in points and establishing new career highs in assists and plus-minus (+9). He also scored two goals and one assist in five postseason games.

In December 2011, Fast signed a two-year contract extension with HV71, which included a 900 percent raise to 5 million krona annually. Fast had a strong start to his 2012–13 season, scoring six points (four goals, two assists) in the first 10 games. He finished the regular season with 35 points (18 goals, 17 assists) in 47 games, exceeding the 32 points (12 goals, 10 assists) he had scored in 57 games during his first two Swedish Hockey League seasons. Fast tied for HV71 lead in goals and ranked third on the team in points, behind Jason Krog (43) and Rhett Rakhshani (39). Fast also had a career-high +13 plus-minus. Despite ranking third in the league, HV71 was eliminated from the playoffs in five games against Linköpings HC, during which Fast recorded five points (1 goal, 4 assists), and a +4 plus-minus. He tied with Rakhshani for second on the team in postseason points and assists.

At the conclusion of the 2012–13 season, Fast was awarded the Rinkens riddare (Knight of the Rink) award, which is bestowed by the Swedish hockey journalists' association each season to the most sportsmanlike player. He was also voted favorite HV71 player of the year by readers of the Swedish publication Jnytt.

### New York Rangers

Fast was drafted by the New York Rangers in the sixth round (157th overall) of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, having obtained the sixth round pick from the Carolina Hurricanes earlier in the day in exchange for defenseman Bobby Sanguinetti. Fast was the fifth of six players the Rangers drafted in 2010, along with Dylan McIlrath, Christian Thomas, Andrew Yogan, Jason Wilson and Randy McNaught. On May 29, 2012, the Rangers announced Fast had been signed to a two-way, three-year entry-level contract, valued at $2.145 million, with a $900,000 annual cap hit. Since HV71 was eliminated from the 2012–13 playoffs earlier than expected, Fast had the opportunity to go to the New York Rangers organization sooner than originally planned. The Swedish Hockey League initially voiced objections, but eventually agreed to loan him to the Rangers.

Fast practiced with New York for the first time on April 2, 2013, although he did not play with the team that season. When the media asked about the Rangers organization's plan for Fast, head coach John Tortorella replied: "There isn't one." He made his North American professional debut on April 5, 2013, with the Connecticut Whale, the Rangers' American Hockey League minor league affiliate, during which he scored a power play goal against Springfield Falcons goaltender Curtis McElhinney in the Whale's 4–3 victory, and was the Third Star of the Game. However, he injured his knee during the match and did not play another AHL game that season.

Fast participated in the Rangers' training camp that preceded the 2013–14 season, during which he impressed New York's head coach Alain Vigneault, and head European scout Anders Hedberg. Although it was his first North American professional training camp, Fast made the Rangers roster, partially because the team needed a right-handed shot to replace the injured captain Ryan Callahan. Fast made his NHL debut on October 3 against the Phoenix Coyotes, taking one shot on goal in 10:13 of ice time. Fast played in eight of the Rangers' first 10 games of the season, playing on the fourth line and recording no points and a -5 plus-minus, before returning to the AHL to make room for Carl Hagelin 's return from a shoulder injury. Observers said Fast needed to adjust to the smaller North American ice surface, and did not get sufficient minutes to do so quickly enough to remain in the NHL.

Fast recorded two assists during his October 30 debut with the Rangers AHL team, now called the Hartford Wolf Pack. However, he suffered a high ankle sprain after going into the boards during a November 2 game at Springfield. He missed the next 14 games as a result, not returning until December 20, but was given enough minutes upon his return that he was quickly able to get back into shape. Fast scored his first goal of the season on December 26, notching the game winner on the power play against Bridgeport Sound Tigers goalie Anders Nilsson. The game was part of a four-game point streak (two goals, two assists) that stretched from December 21 to December 29. Fast also set a team record on January 24 for fastest goal to start a period, scoring in the first seven seconds of the game against Springfield, beating Hartford's previous record by two seconds.

Fast had a season-high five-game point streak from January 24 to January 31, recording six goals and two assists. That included his first North American professional multi-goal game on January 25, in which he scored two goals against the Falcons. Fast followed that the next day with a second straight two-goal game, this time against the Adirondack Phantoms. Fast had another two-goal game, both on the power play, against the Phantoms on March 22, which marked the start of a run of seven points (four goals, three assists) in seven games up to April 6. Fast marked a North American single-game career high with three points (2 goals, 1 assist) in Hartford's 3–2 win over the Norfolk Admirals on April 6, earning him First Star of the Game. Fast recorded a total of 34 points (17 goals, 17 assists) in 48 games for the 2013–14 Hartford season, along with 30 penalty minutes and a +14 plus-minus. Despite missing time from his injury, Fast ranked seventh on the team in assists, fourth in goals, and second in plus-minus with +14. His eight power play goals led the team and tied eighth place in the league among AHL rookies, and his six game-winning goals tied for first in Hartford and fourth in the overall league. Fast was a staple on the Wolf Pack's penalty kill unit, and played most of the season on a line with J. T. Miller and Ryan Bourque.

Fast was called up to the Rangers in April 2014 to replace Chris Kreider, who suffered a left hand injury. Playing on a line with Hagelin and Brad Richards, Fast played in New York's last three regular season games, as well as three post-season matches. He recorded his first career NHL playoff point with an assist in Game 1 of the Metropolitan Division Semifinal against the Philadelphia Flyers on April 17. At the conclusion of the season, the Rangers coaching staff told Fast to add strength, so he worked on his upper body and leg strength during the off-season, adding 10 to 15 pounds of muscle, bringing him to 20 pounds heavier than when he was drafted in 2010.

Fast scored three goals during the Rangers' 2014 preseason, including a game-tying goal in a September 22 loss to the New Jersey Devils, and two goals in a 6–3 victory over Philadelphia on September 28. For the second consecutive year, he made the Rangers roster out of training camp, with Vigneault calling him one of the most consistent players throughout the camp. But he again struggled once the regular season began, and on October 17 was sent back to the Hartford Wolf Pack, along with J. T. Miller. Fast had nine points (one goal, eight assists) over the next 11 matches for Hartford, including two 2-assist games on October 24, and November 8, notching his sole goal in a 4–3 win over the Worcester Sharks on November 2. He was recalled by the Rangers on November 10.

Fast scored his first NHL regular season career point on November 23 with an assist on Dominic Moore 's goal against the Montreal Canadiens. He scored his first NHL goal on November 29, three days before his 23rd birthday, against Ray Emery of the Philadelphia Flyers. Miller, his long-time AHL teammate, assisted on the goal, and Fast assisted on a Miller goal that same game. Fast recorded his second goal in as many games on December 1, scoring against Ben Bishop of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Fast had played most of the season on the fourth line, often with Moore and Tanner Glass, or with Hagelin and Kevin Hayes, and had been an occasional healthy scratch.

Fast finished the regular season with 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in 58 games, and had been promoted to a top six forward role by the playoffs, playing on the second line with Kreider and Derek Stepan. Vigneault praised him as "a real smart, hard-working player". Fast scored one goal and three assists in the seven-game playoff series against the Washington Capitals, and he scored twice in Game 3 against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Finals, the only points he earned in that series. It marked Fast's first career multi-goal game, making him the first Rangers rookie to score multiple goals in a game since Brandon Dubinsky in 2008, and the first with a multi-goal playoff game on the road since Mike Ridley in 1986.

After the conclusion of the 2019–20 season, having played in his seventh season with the Rangers, Fast left the club as a free agent.

### Carolina Hurricanes

On 11 October 2020, Fast joined his second NHL club, agreeing to a three-year, $6 million contract with the Carolina Hurricanes. On May 11, 2023, Fast scored the overtime and series winning goal against the New Jersey Devils in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

On 1 July 2023, Fast signed a two-year $4.8 million contract extension with the Hurricanes.

On 29 August 2024, it was announced that Fast would miss the entirety of the 2024-25 season after undergoing neck surgery.

## International play

In 2009–10, Fast skated in ten international matches for Sweden at the U18 and U19 levels, but did not participate in the World Junior Ice Hockey Championship tournament. He scored one goal and one assist in four games for Sweden at the U20 USA National Junior Evaluation Camp in Lake Placid, New York. At age 18, Fast represented Sweden in the 2011 IIHF World U20 Championship, where he tied the team lead with four goals in six tournament matches, also recording two assists and a +4 plus-minus. Sweden took fourth place in the tournament. In 2011–12, Fast represented Sweden in the Karjala Cup portion of the European Trophy tournament in October. He scored two assists in three games, which tied the Swedish team lead in scoring, and tied eighth scoring for the overall tournament.

## Playing style

Fast is considered a skilled forward with good skating ability, hockey sense, and speed, the latter of which gives him an edge in retrieving pucks along the boards. He excels on the forecheck, is a reliable defensive forward, and plays well in the offensive, defensive, and neutral zones. Alain Vigneault has praised his work ethic and dependability, and former teammate Tanner Glass has noted his ability to make responsible decisions and skillful plays with the puck along the defensive zone wall. One of Fast's drawbacks is he lacks the ideal frame for National Hockey League play, but his physical game improved after he added muscle in the 2014 offseason.

## Personal life

Fast is the cousin of fellow hockey players Adam and Anton Bengtsson, who play in the Swedish Hockey League. Adam has said Fast was "supernaturally good" at hockey as a youth and he was not surprised by his future success. Fast also enjoys playing golf. Fast's teammates have given him the nicknames " Quickie " and " Fasty ".

## Career statistics


The Burning Dead

# The Burning Dead

## Abstract

The Burning Dead (also Volcano Zombies) is a 2015 American horror film directed by Rene Perez, written by Jeff Miller and Jason Ancona, and starring Tom Downey and Moniqa Plante.

## Plot

Long-dead cannibals are brought back to life when a volcano erupts. A sheriff and his daughter band together with several other survivors to defeat the lava-based zombies.

## Cast

- Tom Downey as Sheriff Denton

- Moniqua Plante as Mindy Roberts

- Nicole Cummins as Nicole Roberts

- Kevin Norman as Ryan Jacobs

- Kyle T. Heffner as Dr. Stevens

- Julia Lehman as Eve Jones

- Tom Nagel as Deputy Tisdale

- Adam Gregor as Ranger McGee

- Jenny Lin as Photographer

- Robert F. Lyons as Old Ben

- Danny Trejo as Night Wolf

## Production

Perez was attracted to the project due to his desire to work with producer Jeff Miller, and he was intrigued by the possibility of directing a campy horror film, which he had never done before. Plante said that she was drawn to the film based on the campy appeal of the script. Trejo was approached after the film had financing. Lehman was cast by co-producer Mike Sikes, who she had previously worked with in Pretty Cool 2. She said that the actors had to take the story seriously despite its silliness in order to make the premise work.

Filming began around November 2013 and included Lassen Volcanic National Park among other locations. Post-production ended in September 2014. Perez estimated that it took 1.5 years between when the script was written and the film's release date.

## Release

The original title, Volcano Zombies, was changed to The Burning Dead for marketing reasons. Perez endorsed the change. Uncork'd Entertainment released The Burning Dead to video on demand on March 3, 2015. The DVD will be released on April 7, 2015.

## Reception

Dominic Cuthbert of Starburst rated it 4/10 stars and wrote that both the script and acting are terrible, but it could have been salvaged if Perez had not taken himself so seriously. Mark L. Miller of Ain't It Cool News called it an attempt to cash in the success of Sharknado, though it is even more nonsensical. Scott Foy of Dread Central rated it 1/5 stars and wrote that although The Asylum might not have made a good film with this premise, they could have done it with more flair. Ben Bussey of Brutal as Hell called it a "waste of time" that is full of filler. Michael DeFellipo of Horror Society rated it 6.8/10 and wrote, "By all means this movie isn't made to be taken seriously, so it does achieve its goal of being fun to watch. If you're a fan of SyFy Network Original Movies, then you'll get a kick out of The Burning Dead. Anyone else should probably avoid."


2024 Copa Perú

# 2024 Copa Perú

## Abstract

The 2024 Peru Cup season (Spanish: Copa Perú 2024), the largest amateur tournament of Peruvian football. The District Stage (Spanish: Ligas Distritales) started in February - March, and the National Stage (Spanish: Etapa Nacional) started in November. The winner and runner-up will be promoted to the Liga 2 and the 24 Departmental champions will be promoted to Liga 3.

## Departmental stage

Departmental Stage: 2024 Ligas Departamentales del Perú

The following list shows the teams that qualified for the National Stage.

## National Stage

In 2024 the National Stage has grown to 50 teams, and the new National Stage, designed by matchVision, is played under Regional using the POT System, with all the Regions of Peru represented. The National Stage starts in the second week of October.

This phase features the 50 teams that qualified from the Departmental Stage. Each team plays 3 games at home and 3 games away, for a total of 6 games against 3 different geographical rivals. The departmental stage winners only play against departmental runners-up, and vice versa. All the teams are positioned in one general table. After 6 matches, the team in places 1 to 32 are qualified directly to the Round of 32. The teams in places 33 to 50 are eliminated.

The winner and runner-up of the National Stage will be promoted to the Liga 2.

### League table

## Final Rounds

### Quarterfinals

### Semifinals

### Final


Indian Airlines Flight 814

# Indian Airlines Flight 814

## Abstract

Indian Airlines Flight 814, commonly known as IC 814, was an Indian Airlines Airbus A300 that was hijacked on 24 December 1999 by five members of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen. The passenger flight, en route from Kathmandu to Delhi, was taken over shortly after it entered the Indian airspace at about 16:53 IST. The aircraft carried 190 occupants which included 179 passengers and 11 crew members including Captain Devi Sharan, first officer Rajinder Kumar, and flight engineer Anil Kumar Jaggia.

The aircraft was flown to Amritsar, Lahore, and Dubai. While in Dubai, the hijackers released 27 passengers including a critically injured male hostage, who had been stabbed by the hijackers multiple times. Later, on 25 December, the hijackers forced the aircraft to land in Kandahar in Afghanistan. At the time, most of Afghanistan, including the Kandahar airport, was under the control of Taliban. Taliban men had encircled the aircraft and presence of two officers from the Inter-Services Intelligence of Pakistan made it difficult for any external intervention.

On December 27, after two days of internal discussions, the Indian Government sent a team of negotiators headed by Vivek Katju from the Ministry of Home Affairs, which also included officials Ajit Doval and C.D. Sahay. The motive for the hijacking was to secure the release of various prisoners held under terrorism charges in India. The hijacking is seen as a part of the millennium attack plots in late 1999 and early 2000 by Al-Qaeda linked terrorists. After days of negotiations, India agreed to release three men it had imprisoned for terrorism – Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, Masood Azhar and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar – in exchange for the hostages.

The hostage crisis ended on 31 December when the passengers and crew were released after the Indian government handed the three prisoners over to the Taliban. Despite Indian expectations that the three former prisoners and the hijackers would be arrested, the men were driven to the Pakistan border and released, and they have since been suspected of involvement in other terrorism-related incidents such as the 2001 Indian Parliament attack, 2002 kidnapping and murder of Daniel Pearl, 2016 Pathankot attack and the 2019 Pulwama attack. India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) charged ten people in relation to the case (with whereabouts unknown for seven including the five hijackers), of whom only two were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.

## Background

Flight IC 814 was a regular scheduled passenger flight operated by Indian Airlines between Kathmandu and New Delhi. The aircraft involved was an Airbus A300B2-101, registered as VT-EDW with serial number 036. The aircraft was handed over to Indian Airlines in November 1976 and was powered by two General Electric CF6-50C engines. The aircraft carried 190 occupants which included 179 passengers and 11 crew members. The crew consisted of Captain Devi Sharan, first officer Rajinder Kumar, and flight engineer Anil Kumar Jaggia. The passengers also included foreign nationals, amongst whom was Roberto Giori, the then-owner of De La Rue Giori, a company that controlled the majority of the world's currency-printing business at the time.

### Hijackers

The flight carried five members of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM) amongst the passengers. As per the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, the five perpetrators were later identified as Pakistani nationals Ibrahim Athar (from Bahawalpur), Shahid Akhtar Sayeed, Sunny Ahmed Qazi, Zahoor Mistry (all three from Karachi) and Shakir (from Sukkur). The hijackers used the code names Chief, Doctor, Burger, Bhola and Shankar respectively to refer to themselves.

HuM is an Islamist organisation based out of Pakistan, which had split from Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuI) in 1985. It re-united with HuI in 1993 to form Harkat-ul-Ansar, but after it was declared as a global terrorist organisation by the United States in 1997, it changed its name back to Harkat-ul-Mujahideen. After its leaders were arrested by Indian Armed Forces in 1993, the organisation perpetrated various attacks and kidnappings in India to secure the release of their leaders imprisoned in India. These included the killing of two Indian army personnel in 1994 and multiple incidents of kidnapping of Western tourists in 1994 and 1995.

Kathmandu had been a major operational base for Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and a hub for other illegal activities. Based on later investigation and other statements from others arrested in connection with the incident, the incident was reportedly planned for over two months. The hijackers and their associates made several trips to Kathmandu during this period. The hijack was originally planned for 27 December 1999 but was moved forward later. The tickets for the hijackers were booked through three different tour agencies under false aliases and the booking was altered on 13 December. Access to the airport was facilitated through underworld operative Dawood Ibrahim.

## Hijacking

On 24 December 1999, the flight took off from Kathmandu en route to Delhi after 16:00 hrs Indian Standard Time. It entered Indian airspace around 16:39 IST, when the passengers and crew were being served refreshments. When steward Anil Sharma entered the cockpit, a man entered along with him. He wore a mask and held a revolver and a grenade in his hands. At 16:53 IST, the pilot was told that the flight has been hijacked. The Delhi Air Traffic Control was informed of the situation at 16:56 IST.

The hijackers instructed the captain to fly west towards the Pakistani air space. The Crisis Management Group (CMG) of the Indian Government led by Union Secretary Prabhat Kumar was not convened immediately, and information concerning the hijacking was not communicated at that time to the Intelligence Bureau or the Research and Analysis Wing. Then Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was traveling during the incident and was briefed regarding the incident only after he landed in Delhi. He called a meeting to discuss the situation. Passengers recounted that the hijackers ordered the crew to take away the food that had been served, separated the men from the women and children, blindfolded them and threatened them with explosives if they did not cooperate.

### Landing at Amritsar

At 18:04 IST, the Captain radioed the Indian ATC that they had only one hour of fuel left and that the Pakistani ATC had refused permission to land at Lahore. He implored the ATC to reach out to Pakistan, as the hijackers did not want to land in India and had already threatened to execute ten hostages if their demands were not met. At 6:30 pm, the Indian High Commission in Pakistan requested permission for the plane to land there but was denied. At 18:25 IST, the CMG informed the National Security Guard (NSG) to prepare for a possible rescue mission.

When informed of fuel shortage, the hijackers allowed the Captain to land the flight at the Amritsar airport. At 18:44 IST, the flight began its descent towards the airport in Amritsar, following a message from the Captain to the Indian ATC and the CMG was informed of the same. The Indian Home Minister L. K. Advani and Director General of Police for the state of Punjab Sarabjeet Singh both later stated that they came to know of the hijacking from the television news rather than being informed by the CMG. As per guidelines, Singh asked the Inspector General of Police of the area to take charge of the situation. As the officer was on leave, J.P. Birdi, who occupied the position previously, met up with the plane.

At 19:10 IST, the NSG was ready to take off to Amritsar, but had to wait as the Government negotiators did not arrive. On landing at Amritsar, the captain requested immediate refueling for the aircraft. The hijackers had refused to communicate with local police officials while the plane was in Amritsar. Later accounts indicated that the hijackers, who were upset by the delay in refueling, stabbed passengers Satnam Singh and Rupin Katyal with a knife, causing several wounds. The captain made contact with the ATC four times, informing them that the hijackers were armed with Kalashnikov rifles and had begun killing hostages, and requested them to refuel the plane as fast as possible to prevent any additional deaths. Captain Sharan later stated that he had hoped that the ordeal would end with the assistance of Indian government and that the plane would not have to take off again from Amritsar.

### Take-off to Lahore

Meanwhile, the CMG directed the authorities to ensure that the plane was immobilised at any cost and armed personnel of the Punjab Police were put in position to ensure the same. The aircraft engines were kept running and the plane stayed on the runway. A refueling bowser was finally dispatched but it was initially parked to the side. As the aircraft moved, it was ordered to block the aircraft from taking off and it narrowly missed hitting the plane. Then National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra later revealed that a Government had asked for a sniper to be hidden in the bowser, who could shoot if required to disable the plane. Later, it was revealed that this approach caused the hijackers to suspect that the refueling process would prevent their departure, and they ordered Captain Sharan to take off immediately, resulting in the plane narrowly avoiding hitting the fuel tanker on the runway.

Eyewitness accounts later revealed that five passengers had been placed in seats towards the front with their hands bound, and the hijackers threatened that more hostages would be executed if the plane did not take off immediately. The Captain later said that he had to make a decision so as to stop them from killing the passengers. Despite receiving no clearance to take-off, the plane left Amritsar at 19:47 IST. Captain Sharan announced the departure to the ATC stating, "We are all dying." The NSG lifted off from Delhi at around 19:55 IST and arrived at the airport at 20:15 IST after the aircraft had departed.

On approaching Lahore, the aircraft again requested permission to land, which was denied by the Pakistani ATC. All the lights and navigational aids at the Lahore Airport were turned off to prevent a forced landing. As the plane had not been refueled in Amritsar, it was running out of fuel and Captain Sharan indicated that he would have to crash-land the aircraft. As he made an approach to land on a highway, the Pakistani ATC turned on the navigational aids and allowed the plane to land at the airport. The plane touched down in Lahore at 20:01 IST. On receiving information that the plane had landed in Lahore, India sought a transport for the Indian High Commissioner G. Parthasarathy to travel from Islamabad to Lahore and requested Pakistani authorities to ensure that the plane did not leave Lahore. The runway lights were again turned off to prevent the aircraft from taking off and Pakistani forces surrounded the plane.

As per Captain Sharan, the hijackers were ready to release some women and children aboard the flight, but were denied permission by Pakistani authorities. Parthasarathy later stated that his repeated requests to stop the plane from taking off were not heeded by Pakistan and that he was delayed due to transport difficulties. By the time he arrived at the airport, the plane had been refueled and was allowed to leave. The plane took off from Lahore at around 22:32 IST. The Indian officials reached out to Pakistan for confirmation of reports that passengers on board had been killed, but received no response from the Pakistani authorities.

### Diversion to Dubai

Upon departure from Lahore, the crew was asked to set a course for Kabul. However, as the Kabul Airport did not have any night landing facilities at the time, the Captain expressed his inability to do so. As the plane flew west, most Gulf countries closed their air space to prevent the plane from landing. The flight was finally allowed to land at Al Minhad Air Base in Dubai and touched down at 1:32 IST on the next day. Following negotiations between the UAE authorities and the hijackers, 27 passengers were released in exchange for fuel. The body of the critically injured 25-year-old Katyal, who had been stabbed earlier, was also ejected. The released passengers including Satnam Singh, who had also been attacked by the hijackers in Amritsar and the body of Katyal were later flown to India on a special relief plane on December 25.

While the plane was in Dubai, the Indian authorities wanted to attempt a rescue by Indian forces but the UAE authorities refused permission. The UAE authorities sent catering trucks in a bid to further delay the plane, but the hijackers forced the Captain to take off and the plane narrowly made it off the runway. Captain Sharan later opined that he could have chosen to crash the aircraft to prevent it from taking off, but it presented a fire risk as the plane was full of fuel and he could not have done it without the explicit permission of the authorities. The plane later took off from Dubai at 6:20 IST in the morning.

### Landing in Kandahar and negotiations

The aircraft landed at Kandahar airport at 8:33 IST. Kandahar was under the control of Taliban and after the aircraft landed there, India had to negotiate with the Taliban authorities to reach out to the hijackers. India's lack of previous contact with the Taliban regime complicated the negotiating process. Since India did not officially recognise the Taliban regime, it dispatched an official from its High Commission in Islamabad to Kandahar and the United Nations also sent negotiators. Armed members of the Taliban surrounded the aircraft, which raised doubts on the intention of the Taliban. The Taliban maintained that the forces were deployed in an attempt to dissuade the hijackers from killing or injuring the hostages but some analysts believe it was done to prevent an Indian military operation against the hijackers.

On December 25 and 26, India internally discussed their approach to negotiations, while passengers were still on board the flight. The plane's engine was running continuously to provide lighting and heating as the temperatures dropped during the night. Passengers later stated that they received irregular meals and had limited access to drinking water and sanitation facilities, and that the hijackers utilised the public announcement system on board the plane to proselytize to the passengers. Home Minister Advani opposed any release of prisoners in exchange for the hostages, as this would affect the public opinion of the government, while External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh advocated to negotiate with the Taliban. On December 27, the Indian Government sent a team of negotiators headed by Vivek Katju, Joint-Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, along with officials Ajit Doval and C.D. Sahay.

The Indian officials found that the Taliban had surrounded the aircraft. Negotiations did not progress, as Taliban officials refused to allow Indian special forces to attempt a covert operation, and declined to allow their own special forces to do so as well. To prevent any military action, Taliban officials later surrounded the aircraft with tanks. Doval later said that the hijackers were getting active support from the ISI in Kandahar and that the ISI had handled the pressure the Indians were trying to put on the hijackers, meaning that their safe exit was guaranteed, and they had no need to negotiate an escape route. He also stated that if the hijackers were not getting active support from the ISI, then India could have resolved the hijacking.

On December 27, a Taliban official speaking to a local newspaper stated that the hijackers should either leave Afghanistan or put down their weapons. Indian officials interpreted this statement as an understanding that Taliban officials would arrest the hijackers if they surrendered and began to negotiate with them concerning their demands. The hijackers initially demanded the release of Masood Azhar, who was lodged in an Indian prison and stated that they will release ten Indians, five foreigners and other passengers of their choice if the condition is met. India refused the offer and stated that until all the terms are laid down to completely end the hijacking, there would be no negotiations. On the same day, the hijackers made three demands which included the release of 36 prisoners lodged in various Indian jails, the return of the body of HuM founder Sajjad Afghani and US$200 million in cash. Sajjad Afghani had been arrested earlier by the Indian authorities and was killed during a jailbreak in 1999.

### Prisoner release and end of the hijacking

On further negotiations, the demand was ultimately reduced to the release of three prisoners - Masood Azhar, Omar Sheikh and Mushtaq Zargar. Azhar was arrested for terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir in 1994. Sheikh was arrested in connection with the 1994 kidnappings of foreigners perpetrated by HuA. Zargar, who had at least three dozen murder cases registered against him, had been arrested on 15 May 1992 and imprisoned. On 30 December, RAW chief A. S. Dulat communicated with then Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah to release the prisoners who were then lodged in the state prisons. Abdullah was opposed to releasing the prisoners, warning Dulat of the long-term consequences, but eventually agreed to the demands of the Indian Government. The three prisoners were released and flown to Kandahar.

By this time, the hostages had been allowed to de-plane by the hijackers, and the hijackers had also surrendered their weapons to the Taliban. Passenger accounts indicated that the hijackers asked the passengers to show their gratitude to the Afghanistan Government, following which money was collected and handed to one of the passengers, Anuj Sharma, who was instructed to use it to commission a memento of the hijacking for a museum in Kandahar. India explicitly conveyed to the Taliban that it expected the Taliban to arrest and act against the perpetrators. However, instead of arresting the hijackers and the three prisoners who had been handed over to them, the Taliban authorities gave them ten hours to leave the country and drove them to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

## Aftermath

Indian Airlines suspended all flights to and from Kathmandu after the hijack. The airline resumed its Kathmandu services after five months on 1 June 2000 under the same flight numbers, after Nepal assured India of full security at Kathmandu's airport. Nepal also agreed to the installation of an additional X-ray machine and a final check of passengers by Indian security personnel at the airport. In January 2000, the security of Indian Airports was handed over to the Central Industrial Security Force. The aircraft was returned to Indian Airlines and was finally scrapped in December 2003.

### Investigation and trial

On 29 December, Indian intelligence intercepted a phone call from Pakistan to Abdul Latif in Mumbai. The phone call directed Latif to contact a news agency in London and inform that the hijackers would blow the aircraft if their demands are not met. The case was investigated by the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which charged ten people for the hijacking, out of whom the whereabouts of seven including the five hijackers were unknown. The hijacked aircraft became the main piece of evidence involved in the subsequent criminal investigation and subsequently a model of the plane was created for the case. Along with Latif, Dilip Kumar Bhujel and a Nepalese citizen Yusuf Nepali, who provided support to the hijackers were convicted.

After almost eight years of litigation, a special court at Patiala sentenced the three accused to life imprisonment on 5 February 2008. While the governments of Nepal and UAE helped with the investigation, the Government of Pakistan refused to cooperate on the same. During the course of the investigation, arrest warrants for the remaining seven accused, who were Pakistani nationals, were forwarded to the Government of Pakistan by the CBI for their extradition to India. Though the CBI also sought the help of Interpol and got red corner notices issued against the seven, none of them were brought to trial eventually.

The CBI later moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court demanding the death penalty for Latif. When the case came up for hearing in September 2012, the High Court dismissed the CBI's plea and confirmed the life imprisonment for Latif. It also acquitted the other two from conviction under the anti-hijacking law and confirmed their conviction only under the less stringent arms act. The CBI later approached the Supreme Court of India against the decision.

On 13 September 2012, the Jammu and Kashmir Police arrested Mehrajuddin Dand, who allegedly provided logistical support for the hijacking. Meanwhile, Latif's application for parole was rejected in 2015. On 10 July 2020, Latif along with 18 others including an employee of the passport office, was acquitted by a Sessions Court in Mumbai on charges relating to the fabrication of passports in connection with the hijacking incident.

### Domestic reaction

The incident was seen as a failure of then BJP led Government under Vajpayee, with Ajit Doval later saying that India would have had a stronger negotiating hand if the aircraft had not been allowed to leave Indian territory. Then External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh received criticism for praising the Taliban for their co-operation after the hostages had been returned.

Relatives of the passengers aboard the flight also raised public protests at being denied information about the passengers' health and status, tried to enter the Government briefings and meetings by force to demand information, and held press conferences criticising the Government. A message from the Kandahar ATC was circulated to the public which stated that the plane was being regularly cleaned, and that the passengers were being provided with food, water, and entertainment. This was later contradicted by passenger accounts.

As per a report in Firstpost, then RAW chief Dulat had revealed that Shashi Bhushan Singh Tomar, a RAW officer was aboard the plane during the hijacking. It was opined that a proposal to send the NSG was apparently sabotaged by then secretary to the Indian Prime Minister N. K. Singh, whose sister was married to Tomar. It also stated that, according to former RAW officer R. K. Yadav, Tomar was alerted by a RAW operative in Kathmandu of plans by Pakistan-based terrorists to hijack an Indian plane. However, Tomar rebuked him and told him not to spread rumours. It opined that somehow Tomar ended up on the same plane which was hijacked and became the cause of failure of the operation. Media reports also criticised that then Prime Minister Vajpayee was kept in the dark for more than an hour after the hijacking.

In a report to the Indian Parliament on 1 March 2000, the External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh stated that the Government was not initially aware that the aircraft would land at Amritsar and there was limited information about the number of perpetrators and the nature of weapons. He further stated that the information from the flight crew indicated that attackers had already killed passengers, and any action would have contributed to undue risk. The Indian authorities made all efforts to stop the aircraft from taking off.

### International reaction

Al-Qaeda led by Osama bin Laden provided organisational support for the hijacking and the incident was seen as a part of the millennium attack plots in late 1999 and early 2000 by al-Qaeda -linked terrorists. The Government of the United States released a press release condemning the hijacking incident and called for the release of hostages. Though the United States has engaged against the Al-Qaeda after the bombings of American embassies in Africa in 1998, it actively engaged against the Taliban only after the September 11 attacks. In 2008, Jaswant Singh also opined that the hijacking was a prelude to the 2001 attacks. He criticised that the United States spent millions in Pakistan in the name of fighting terrorism, but the country did not cooperate in taking action against the perpetrators.

UAE was one of the three countries that recognised the Taliban regime. While UAE cooperated with the Indian authorities and helped with the release of hostages, it could not do much to prevent the plane from taking off. Pakistan did not help in ending the hijack attempt and Indian officials described the involvement of ISI. Pakistan Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar blamed India of staging the hijacking to defame the Government of Pakistan.

### Indian foreign policy

Doval, who was part of the negotiating team, described the whole incident as a diplomatic failure due to the Government's inability to force the United States and the UAE to help secure a quick release of the passengers. India had actively opposed the Taliban regime ever since it gained power in Afghanistan in 1996 as they were suspected to be involved in training militants for attacks in Indian Kashmir region. Though Taliban had publicly indicated the displeasure at the hijacking, it did not actively help India and shared some similar interests with the ISI.

While Taliban and India negotiated to end the hijacking, it was considered a set back to India as it was forced to negotiate with the Taliban. It later supported the Northern Alliance and provided logistical support to them in the fight against the Taliban. The leader of the alliance Ahmad Shah Massoud visited India on multiple occasions to discuss strategies to take on the Taliban. During the subsequent US invasion of Afghanistan, the Indian Government provided intelligence on training camps of Islamic militants in Afghanistan.

### Actions of released prisoners

The three released terrorists and the hijackers have since been implicated in other terrorism related incidents such as the 2001 Indian Parliament attack, 2002 kidnapping and murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl, 2008 Mumbai attacks, 2016 Pathankot attack and the 2019 Pulwama attack. Azhar later founded Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM) in 2000, which gained notoriety for its alleged role in the various attacks, which led to the death of hundreds of civilians and armed forces personnel. Sheikh went on to join Azhar at JeM in 2000 after the release. He was later arrested in 2002 by Pakistani authorities for the abduction and murder of Daniel Pearl. He also played a significant role in planning the September 2001 attacks in the United States. Since his release, Zargar has played an active role in training Islamic militants in Pakistan administrated Jammu & Kashmir.

Amjad Farooqi, who was earlier involved in the 1995 kidnapping of Western tourists in Kashmir by Al-Faran, was also involved in the hijacking under the alias "Mansur Hasnain". On 1 March 2022, one of the hijackers, Zahoor Mistry, was killed in a drive-by shooting in Karachi, Pakistan. Ibrahim was held responsible for the murder of the passenger Rupin Katyal and the gunmen who killed Ibrahim were never identified.

## In popular culture

Captain Sharan was awarded the 1999 Safe Skies Award for "extraordinary coolness and courage in life-or-death circumstances".

### Books

The incident has the subject of several books including various books co-authored by various members of the flight crew.

- Flight into Fear – A Captain's Story (2000) by Captain Devi Sharan and Srinjoy Chowdhury

- IC 814 Hijacked! The Inside Story (2000) by Flight engineer Anil Jaggia and Saurabh Shukla

- 173 Hours in Captivity (2000) by Neelesh Misra

- IA's Terror Trail (2020) by flight purser Anil Sharma and official Ajit Doval

### Film and television

- Zameen (2003): A Bollywood film loosely based upon the IC 814 hijacking and Operation Entebbe of the Israel Defense Forces.

- Combatting Terror (2007): The incident was part of the episode "Air Hijack" in the series featured on National Geographic Channel.

- Hijack (2008): A Hindi film by Kunal Shivdasani, starring Shiney Ahuja and Esha Deol based on the incident.

- Kandahar (2010): A Malayalam film by Major Ravi based on the hijack event.

- Payanam (2011): A Tamil film by Radha Mohan based on a similar incident involving an Indian Airlines flight.

- Yodha (2024): A Hindi film directed by Sagar Ambre and Pushkar Ojha references the incident.

- IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack (2024): A Netflix web series by Anubhav Sinha based on the incident.