The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003; the competition consisted of 48 matches over 44 days. The eight quarter-finalists from 2003 were granted automatic qualification, while 12 other nations gained entry through the regional qualifying competitions that began in 2004 – of them, Portugal was the only World Cup debutant; the top three nations from each pool at the end of the pool stage qualified automatically for the 2011 World Cup. The competition opened with a match between hosts France and Argentina on 7 September at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, outside Paris; the stadium was the venue of the final, played between England and South Africa on 20 October, which South Africa won 15–6 to win their second World Cup title. Both England and France bid to host the tournament.

The tender document for the 2007 bidding process was due out on 31 October 2001. Both England and France were invited to re-submit their plans; the International Rugby Board stated that both countries must comply with tender document terms in one bid, but in their second option, could propose alternative ideas. The IRB said "England's original proposal contained three plans for hosting the tournament with a traditional and hybrid format all on offer... The French bid, while complying with the tender document in all other respects, fell outside one of the `windows` in which the IRB wanted to stage an event". England's bids included a two-tier tournament and altering the structure of the qualifying tournament and France had a bid in September/October, it was announced in April 2003. The tournament was moved to the proposed September–October dates with the tournament structure remaining as it was, it was announced that ten French cities would be hosting games, with the final at the Stade de France.

French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin said that "this decision illustrates the qualities of our country and its capacity to host major sporting events... This World Cup will be the opportunity to showcase the regions of France where the wonderful sport of rugby is rooted". French Sports Minister Jean-François Lamour said that "The organisation of this World Cup will shine over all of France because ten French towns have the privilege of organising matches and to be in the world's spotlight." French cities to host games were Bordeaux, Lyon, Montpellier, Nantes, St. Etienne and Paris, it was announced that the final would be at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis; the eight quarter-finalists from the 2003 World Cup all received automatic entry, with the other 12 nations coming from qualifying series around the world. Ten of the 20 positions available in the tournament were filled by regional qualifiers, with an additional two being filled by repechage qualification; the qualifying tournament was divided into five regional groups.

Qualifying matches began in 2004 and were completed in early 2007. Including the automatic qualifiers, over 90 nations were in qualifying contention for the final tournament. In July 2005, both Samoa and Fiji were confirmed as the qualifiers from Oceania, as Oceania 1 and 2 respectively. In July of the following year, Argentina qualified as Americas 1 by defeating Uruguay 26–0 in Buenos Aires. Americas 2 was filled in August; the United States went on to qualify as Americas 3 after beating Uruguay in a two-legged tie in early October. That month saw Italy qualify as Europe 1 after defeating Russia 67–7 in Moscow, reaching the first place in its qualifying group. Namibia qualified for their third consecutive World Cup after they earned their spot in France by defeating Morocco over two legs in November. In late 2006, it was announced that the IRB had withdrawn Colombo as the venue of the final Asian qualifying tournament due to security problems. Japan won the only Asian allocation. Georgia was 14 points the better of Portugal over two legs to claim the last European place.

Tonga qualified through repechage after defeating Korea. The final spot went to Portugal. Portugal's qualification was the only change in the 20-team roster from the 2003 World Cup, replacing Uruguay, becoming the only wholly amateur team to qualify. France won the right to host the 2007 World Cup in 2003, it was subsequently announced that four matches would be held in Wales, at Cardiff's 74,500-seat Millennium Stadium. Ireland was to have hosted matches at Lansdowne Road, but opted out because the stadium was being redeveloped. Two of Scotland's Pool C matches were played at Murrayfield Stadium in Scotland; the Scottish Rugby Union was having doubts in early 2006 about hosting these games and whether Scotland would generate enough market demand, but confirmed in April 2006 that the games would be played at Murrayfield. In the end, the Scotland v. New Zealand match failed to sell out, the stadium was less than half-full for the Scotland v. Romania match. There was a substantial increase in the overall capacity of stadiums compared to the 2003 Rugby World Cup – the smallest venue at the 2007 tournament could s

Sri Pratap Higher Secondary is a boys school located at M. A. Road, Srinagar, it is the oldest school in Srinagar locally known as SP school. It was established in 1874 by the ruler of Kashmir Shri Maharaja Pratap Singh; the School has produced a line of distinguished alumni. Sri Pratap Higher Secondary School has a prestigious history of 141 years at its back; the school was established long back in 1874 AD. Ranbir Singh was the first Dogra ruler who took personal interest in the advancement of education in the State of Jammu and Kashmir. In 1874, two schools were opened in the twin cities of Srinagar; the schools were named as Srinagar Middle School. The Srinagar Middle School was having only a few primary subjects of Sanskrit and Persian, however not as a regular system; the subjects were taught in the same way as in Chat halls. There was a separate department of teaching Arabic to Muslim students. In 1883 there were 450 boys on its roll, it was with the advent of the reign of Sri Pratap Singh of Jammu and Kashmir in 1885 AD that the modern education in the State took shape and the expansion of education continued in his time.

Dr. A. K. Mitra known as the father of education in Kashmir, zealously worked for the upliftment of Kashmiris and raised the status of Srinagar Schools to a full-fledged Anglo Vernacular School, introducing English and Imparting instructions according to Panjab University Curriculum. In 1891, the school was raised the status of Srinagar High School and was latter on called Sri Pratap High School. In early years of 20th century, paradigm shift was seen in the education sector when the need was felt to recognise the state schools with introduction of science subjects. In 1912 AD S. P. School was reorganised and a post graduate was appointed as its Head Master with two trained graduates as teaching assistants. In 1913-1914 AD provision of teaching science and drawing subjects was introduced in the school. In the year 1921 AD, Physical Education was introduced with accompaniment of music. In 1949-50 AD Mr. M. M. Kazim, the Director School Education called a conference on social education and discussed the reorganisation of Schools in Jammu & Kashmir state.

On the recommendation of the conference, S. P. High School was elevated to S. P. Higher Secondary School as was affiliated to J&K University. At the same time crafts like wood carving, paper mache, embroidery and weaving were introduced in the school. In the year 2015, the school was raised to the status of "Model School" by the State Government. Hon'ble Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed inaugurated the school as Model School on 14 September 2015, it is evident that S. P. Higher Secondary School has a legacy of more than 140 years and has immensely contributed to the educational development of the state in general and Srinagar in particular; the school is situated in the centre of Srinagar city. Admission to 9th and 11th classes is governed by the procedure laid down from time to time and is subject to the availability of seats in the institution; the admission process begins on the 15th day after declaration of 10th respectively. Admission forms will be given to eligible candidates only who will have to deposit the prescribed fee in the designated branch of Jammu & Kashmir Bank.

The school fee is non-refundable to be utilised purely for providing various infrastructural facilities to the students. Science Commerce Humanities Non Medical Iqbal House Mehjoor House Shah-I-Hamdan House Sheikh Ul Alam House Mufti Mohammad Sayeed Dr. Javied Bhat The school has equipped laboratory facility, separately for Physics, Botany, Zoology and Biochemistry; the school has established two smart class rooms with internet connectivity where in students of all the classes and all streams get chance to learn once in a week according to a prescribed time schedule

Dr. Vicente Lopez-Ibor Mayor is former Commissioner of the National Energy Commission and of the National Electric System Commission, of Spain, a founding partner of Spanish energy law firm, Estudio Juridico Internacional Lopez-Ibor Mayor & Asociados, he is chairman of Lightsource BP Ltd, the UK's largest solar energy generator, operating the largest portfolio of commercial scale solar photovoltaic assets on ground and roof in Britain. As an academic, he has written numerous scholarly papers about energy security and policy, he used to be the General Manager of Institutional Relations for Spain's major construction and Infrastructure firm, FCC Group. Mayor has a PhD in Law from Madrid University with the highest qualifications "Cum Laude". Mayor was born in Madrid, Spain, in 1959, he started his studies at the Complutense University of Madrid where he completed a Bachelors in Law. In 2004 he attended the IESE Business School, University of Navarra in Barcelona, Spain and in 2007 participated in the IME program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Boston.

Mayor has worked extensively in the renewable energy sector. He has worked at UNESA for 12 years in various capacities. From 1987 – 1995 he was the Director of Legal Affairs as well as the Chairman of the Legal Committee and Chairman of the Public Procurement Law Committee, he became the General Secretary of the Board of Directors from 1995-1999. He has been a member of the Directors Committee and of the Legal and Strategic Groups of EURELECTRIC and UNIPEDE. Mayor was a member of the Organizing Committee of the World Solar Summit and Special Advisor of the Energy Program of UNESCO, he was an expert on the Energy Committee, on the Social and Economic Committee of the European Communities. General Director of Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas, S. A. Member of the Management Group Committee, with functional and organic dependence from the Executive Chairman of the Company. Mayor has a number of lead positions in various companies, he has been the President of Lightsource Renewable Energy Ltd, a UK based solar energy company, since 2011.

He is the president at an international law firm, Estudio Jurídico Internacional, that specializes in Energy and Public Economy Law. Mayor is a Senior Counsel at Olswang and is the President of the Spanish-North American Association VIA-Jefferson Circle of Spain, Member of the Board of Directors of the European Federation ENAM. Mayor is married with two children and speaks English, French and his native language, Spanish. “Enhanced cooperation and energy”. Institute for European Studies of CEU San Pablo University. Ed CEU. Madrid 2009. Energie et Société, in collaboration with Pierre Bauby, Alain Beltran, B. Berkovsky, T. Serber, M. Locquin and S. C. Mills. Publisud. París, 1995. Author of the book “Conversations about Energy”. Civitas-Thomson Reuters. 2012. "Energy needs a market without interference" Financial Times June 2008. "A Pan-Atlantic Vision of the Energy Renaissance" Bloomberg May 2014. "How Politics Is Shaping the Debate on Sustainable Energy in the US" The Huffington Post November 2014. "OPEC vs. Shale: The stakes are raised" Al Arabiya December 2014.

"Can solar power replace oil in the Middle East?" Al Jazeera December 2014. "How TTIP Can Enhance EU-US Energy Security and Counterbalance Russia's Energy Weight" Atlantic Council December 2014. "Markets vs. Mandate: the American energy dilemma" Adam Smith Institute January 2015. "A new take on falling oil prices" Al Jazeera English February 2015. "Energy price controls have failed all over Europe" Institute of Economic Affairs March 2015. "Our energy future is green and decentralised" The Ecologist April 2015. "In a new bipolar energy order, America must assert itself in the Arctic" Atlantic Council April 2015. "The answer to our energy problems? The'off the grid economy'" ResPublica May 2015. "Energy challenges mean the US must strengthen its Arctic engagement" American Security Project May 2015. "The Arctic Could Become a New Centre for Geopolitical Tensions" Huffington Post May 2015. "Energy's new centre of gravity: The Atlantic Basin" Business News Network June 2015. "Islamic Climate change declaration could be a game changer" Al Arabiya August 2015.

"BBC Business Live" BBC News August 2015. "Living Planet: What's driving decarbonization?" Deutsche Welle December 2015. "Future of the energy market" CNN International December 2015. "Tensions with Russia make Turkey’s clean energy transition timelier than ever" Today's Zaman December 2015. "A renewable future for the Middle East" World Future Energy Summit January 2016. "The Islamic Declaration on Climate Change" Technical Review Middle East February 2016. "What The Middle East Must Do to Achieve Its Solar Ambitions" Newsweek March 2016. "Middle East’s Smart Cities" Newsweek June 2016. "You can't remove history overnight" CNBC August 2016

Andrew Howard is a Welsh theatre and film actor. Howard trained at Cygnet Training Theatre in Exeter in the late 1980s, touring in productions of A Christmas Carol, Twelfth Night, Beggar's Opera and Peer Gynt among others. On stage roles included Alex DeLarge in A Clockwork Orange, Peer Gynt in Peer Gynt, Orestes in Electra at theatres, including The Royal National Theatre and The Donmar Warehouse. Howard has made notable appearances in several major productions, including the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers and the Guy Ritchie caper Revolver, as well as costarring alongside Patrick Stewart and Glenn Close in the 2003 TV movie The Lion in Winter, he played "Bad" Frank Phillips in History Channel's McCoys. In 2001, Howard was awarded best actor at the Tokyo International Film Festival for his portrayal of Jon in Mr In-Between, he co-wrote the screenplay for Shooters, a 2002 British crime drama in which he starred. In 2009, he played Thomas Luster in the thriller film Luster under the direction from Adam Mason.

In 2009, he was in the film Blood River, for which Howard won Best Actor Award at the Honolulu Film Festival and the Jack Nance Breakthrough Performance Award at the New York Film Festival Downtown. In 2011, he starred in Limitless, a film by Neil Burger titled The Dark Fields. In 2014, he played a supporting role as the lead Russian henchman, Maxim, in Taken 3. Since 2015, he has appeared in the television series Bates Motel as Will Decody, portrayed by actor Ian Hart in the first season. Shooters, film Pig, film Andrew Howard on IMDb

The Handmaid's Tale is a 1990 film adaptation of Canadian author Margaret Atwood's novel of the same name. Directed by Volker Schlöndorff, the film stars Natasha Richardson, Faye Dunaway, Robert Duvall, Aidan Quinn, Elizabeth McGovern; the screenplay was written by Harold Pinter. The original music score was composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto. MGM Home Entertainment released an Avant-Garde Cinema DVD of the film in 2001; the film was entered into the 40th Berlin International Film Festival. In the near future, war rages across the Republic of Gilead—formerly the United States of America—and pollution has rendered 99% of the population sterile. Kate is a woman who attempts to emigrate to Canada with her daughter; as they take a dirt road, the Gilead Border Guard orders them to turn back or they will open fire. Kate's husband uses an automatic rifle to draw the fire, telling Kate to run. Kate is captured, while their daughter wanders off into the back country and unaccompanied; the authorities take Kate to a training facility with several other women, where she and her companions receive training to become Handmaids—concubines for one of the privileged but barren couples who run the country's religious fundamentalist regime.

Although she resists being indoctrinated into the cult of the Handmaids, which mixes Old Testament orthodoxy with scripted group chanting and ritualized violence, Kate is soon assigned to the home of "the Commander" and of his cold, inflexible wife, Serena Joy. There she is named "Offred"—"of Fred", her role as the Commander's latest concubine is emotionless. She lies between Serena Joy's legs while being raped by the Commander in the collective hope that she will bear them a child. Kate continually longs for her earlier life, but she is haunted by nightmares of her husband's death and of her daughter's disappearance. A doctor tells her. Serena Joy wants a baby, so she persuades Kate to risk the punishment for fornication—death by hanging—in order to be fertilized by another man who may make her pregnant, spare her life. In exchange for Kate agreeing to this, Serena Joy provides information to Kate that her daughter is alive, shows as proof a recent photograph of her living in the household of another Commander.

However, Kate is told. The Commander tries to get closer to Kate, in the sense that he feels if she enjoyed herself more she would become a better handmaid; the Commander knows Kate's background as a librarian. He allows her access to his private library. However, during a night out, the Commander has sex with Kate in an unauthorized manner; the other man selected by Serena Joy turns out to be the Commander's sympathetic chauffeur. Kate grows attached to Nick and becomes pregnant with his child. Kate kills the Commander, a police unit arrives to take her away, she thinks that the policemen are members of the government's secret police. However, it turns out that they are soldiers from the resistance movement, of which Nick is a part. Kate flees with them, parting from Nick in an emotional scene. Kate is now free once again and wearing non-uniform clothes, she is living by herself, pregnant in a trailer while receiving intelligence reports from the rebels. She wonders if she will be reunited with Nick, but expresses hope that will happen, resolves with the rebels' help she will find her daughter.

Natasha Richardson as Kate/Offred Robert Duvall as The Commander Faye Dunaway as Serena Joy Elizabeth McGovern as Moira Aidan Quinn as Nick Victoria Tennant as Aunt Lydia Blanche Baker as Ofglen Traci Lind as Janine/Ofwarren Reiner Schöne as Luke, Kate's husband Robert D. Raiford as Dick Muse Watson as Guardian Bill Owen as TV Announcer #2 David Dukes as Doctor Blair Nicole Struble as Jill, Kate's daughter According to Steven H. Gale, in his book Sharp Cut, "the final cut of The Handmaid's Tale is less a result of Pinter's script than any of his other films, he contributed only part of the screenplay: he'abandoned writing the screenplay from exhaustion.' … Although he tried to have his name removed from the credits because he was so displeased with the movie, … his name remains as screenwriter". Gale observes further that "while the film was being shot, director Volker Schlöndorff", who had replaced the original director Karel Reisz, "called Pinter and asked for some changes in the script".

He gave the director and author carte blanche to accept whatever changes that she wanted to institute, for, as he reasoned,'I didn't think an author would want to fuck up her own work.' … As it turned out, not only did Atwood make changes, but so did many others who were involved in the shoot". Gale points out; the whole thing fell between several shoots. I worked with Karel Reisz on it for about a year. There are big public scenes in the story and Karel wanted to do them with thousands of people; the film company wouldn't sanction. At which point, Volker Schlöndorff came into it as director, he wanted to work with me on the script, but I said I was exhausted. I less said, ` Do what you like. There's the script. Why not go back to the original author if you want to fiddle about?' He did go to the original author. And the actors came into it

Léon Levavasseur was a French powerplant engineer, aircraft designer and inventor. His innovations included the V8 engine, direct fuel injection, liquid engine cooling. Associated with the Antoinette company, he continued to experiment with aircraft design after the company went bankrupt. Levavasseur was born in Le Mesnil-au-Val, France to a naval officer. Studying fine arts, Levavasseur switched to studying engineering, with a particular interest in arc lamps and petrol engines. In the summer of 1902, Levavasseur suggested to industrialist Jules Gastambide that powerful, lightweight engines would be necessary for powered flight, proposed the manufacture of these engines, he proposed that the engines be named after Gastambide's daughter, Antoinette. Gastambide financed the venture. Levavasseur patented the V8 engine configuration that year. By 1904, most of the prize-winning speedboats in Europe were powered with Antoinette engines. During this time, he designed engines of various configurations of up to thirty-two cylinders.

The Antoinette company was incorporated in 1906, with Gastambide as president and Levavasseur as technical director. The vice-president was aviation pioneer Louis Blériot; the company's primary business was the sale of engines to aircraft builders. Levavasseur's Antoinette engines included advanced features, including direct fuel injection and liquid engine cooling. Levavasseur experimented with the construction of aircraft and in 1906 the Antoinette company was contracted to build an aircraft for Captain Ferdinand Ferber. Blériot tried to dissuade the directors of Antoinette from becoming aircraft manufacturers, fearing that they would begin competing against their own customers. Blériot left the company. In the spring of 1909, Antoinette pilot Hubert Latham made several impressive flights; this convinced Levavasseur that Latham could cross the English Channel in an Antoinette aircraft and win the Daily Mail prize for doing so. Latham made two attempts to cross the English Channel in July 1909, both of which were unsuccessful due to engine failure while over the Channel.

Between Latham's attempts, former Antoinette vice-president Blériot crossed the Channel in his own aircraft. That month, Levavasseur was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour. Latham's efforts to promote Levavasseur's Antoinette products were more successful at the Grande Semaine d'Aviation de la Champagne on 22–29 August 1909 at Reims, where he won the altitude prize, finished second in the speed competition, took third place in the Gordon Bennett Cup for aeroplanes, and, in the Grand Prix event, trying to fly the longest distance around the circuit in a single uninterrupted flight, he won second prize in one aircraft and fifth prize in another. Levavasseur left the Antoinette company in November 1909, he returned to the company as the technical director in March 1910. After his return, he designed the Antoinette military monoplane, known as the Monobloc, a streamlined monoplane with cantilever wings. Due to its enormous weight and underpowered engine, it was unable to take off during the 1911 military trials held at Reims and was rejected by the military.

The Antoinette company went bankrupt shortly afterward. Levavasseur began working on an aircraft with variable wing surface in late 1918; the variable area wing design won Levavasseur a "Safety in Aeroplanes" prize and was acquired by the French government. Levavasseur died in poverty in February 1922. Brett, R. Dallas. History of British Aviation 1908-1914. London, UK: The Aviation Book Club. ASIN B01ELJ1EBY. Day, Lance. Biographical dictionary of the history of technology. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-415-06042-4. Hartmann, Gerard. "Les moteurs et aéroplanes Antoinette". Archived from the original on 2014-12-14. Retrieved 2009-11-08. King, Stephen H.. The Passion That Left The Ground: The Remarkable Airplanes of Léon Levavasseur. Tarentum, Pennsylvania: Word Association Publishers. ISBN 978-1-59571-178-6. Nicolaou, Stéphane. Reims - 1909: Le Premier Meeting Aérien International. Le Bourget, France: Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace. ISBN 9781595711786. Villard, Henry Serrano. Contact! The Story of the Early Aviators.

Courier Dover Publications. ISBN 978-0-486-42327-2