The Arab League, formally the League of Arab States, is a regional organization in the Arab world, located in Africa and Western Asia. The Arab League was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members: Egypt, Transjordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria. Yemen joined as a member on 5 May 1945; the League has 22 members, but Syria's participation has been suspended since November 2011. The League's main goal is to "draw closer the relations between member states and co-ordinate collaboration between them, to safeguard their independence and sovereignty, to consider in a general way the affairs and interests of the Arab countries". Through institutions, such as the Arab League Educational and Scientific Organization and the Economic and Social Council of the Arab League's Council of Arab Economic Unity, the Arab League facilitates political, cultural and social programmes designed to promote the interests of the Arab world, it has served as a forum for the member states to coordinate their policy positions, to deliberate on matters of common concern, to settle some Arab disputes and to limit conflicts such as the 1958 Lebanon crisis.

The League has served as a platform for the drafting and conclusion of many landmark documents promoting economic integration. One example is the Joint Arab Economic Action Charter, which outlines the principles for economic activities in the region; each member state has one vote in the League Council, decisions are binding only for those states that have voted for them. The aims of the league in 1945 were to strengthen and coordinate the political, cultural and social programs of its members and to mediate disputes among them or between them and third parties. Furthermore, the signing of an agreement on Joint Defence and Economic Cooperation on 13 April 1950 committed the signatories to coordination of military defence measures. In March 2015, the Arab League General Secretary announced the establishment of a Joint Arab Force with the aim of counteracting extremism and other threats to the Arab States; the decision was reached. Participation in the project is voluntary, the army intervenes only at the request of one of the member states.

The growing militarization of the region and the increase in violent civil wars as well as terrorist movements are the reason behind the creation of the JAF, financed by the rich Gulf countries. In the early 1970s, the Economic Council of the League of Arab States put forward a proposal to create the Joint Arab Chambers of Commerce across the European states; that led, under the decree of the League of Arab States no. K1175/D52/G, to the decision by the Arab governments to set up the Arab British Chamber of Commerce, mandated to "promote and facilitate bilateral trade" between the Arab world and its major trading partner, the United Kingdom. Following adoption of the Alexandria Protocol in 1944, the Arab League was founded on 22 March 1945, it aimed to be a regional organisation of Arab states with a focus to developing the economy, resolving disputes and coordinating political aims. Other countries joined the league; each country was given one vote in the council. The first major action was the joint intervention on behalf of the majority Arab population being uprooted as the state of Israel emerged in 1948, but a major participant in this intervention, had agreed with the Israelis to divide up the Arab Palestinian state proposed by the United Nations General Assembly, Egypt intervened to prevent its rival in Amman from accomplishing its objective.

It was followed by the creation of a mutual defence treaty two years later. A common market was established in 1965; the Arab League member states cover over 13,000,000 km2 and straddles two continents: Africa and Asia. The area consists of arid deserts, such as the Sahara, it contains several fertile lands like the Nile Valley, the Jubba Valley and Shebelle Valley in the Horn of Africa, the Atlas Mountains in the Maghreb, the Fertile Crescent that stretches over Mesopotamia and the Levant. The area comprises parts of the world's longest river, the Nile; the Charter of the Arab League known as the Pact of the League of Arab States, is the founding treaty of the Arab League. Adopted in 1945, it stipulates that "the League of Arab States shall be composed of the independent Arab States that have signed this Pact."Initially, in 1945, there were only six members. Today, the Arab League has 22 members, including three African countries among the largest by area and the largest country in Western Asia.

Five countries have observer status that entitles them to express their opinion and give advice but denies them voting rights. There was a continual increase in membership during the second half of the 20th century; as of 2020, there are 22 member states: and 5 observer states: Libya was suspended on 22 February 2011, following the start of the Libyan Civil War. The National Transitional Council, the recognised interim government of Libya, sent a representative to be seated at the Arab League meeting on 17 August to participate in a discussion as to whether to readmit Libya to the organisation. Syria was suspended on 16 November 2011. On 6 March 2013, the Arab League gave the Syrian National Coalition Syria's seat in the Arab League. On 9 March 2014, secretary general Nabil al-Arabi said that Syria's seat would remain vacant un

Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups referring to races. Desegregation is measured by the index of dissimilarity allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact on the settlement patterns of various groups; this is most used in reference to the United States. Desegregation was long a focus of the Civil Rights Movement, both before and after the United States Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education desegregation of the school systems and the military. Racial integration of society was a related goal. Starting with King Philip's War in the 17th century, blacks served alongside whites in an integrated environment in the North American colonies, they continued to fight in every American war integrated with whites up until the War of 1812. They would not fight in integrated units again until the Korean War. Thousands of black men fought on the side of rebellious colonists in the American Revolutionary War, many in the new Continental Navy.

Their names, accomplishments or total numbers are unknown because of poor record keeping. During the American Civil War, Blacks enlisted in large numbers, they were enslaved blacks who escaped in the South, although there were many northern black Unionists as well. More than 180,000 blacks served with the Union Army and Navy during the Civil War, in segregated units known as the United States Colored Troops, under the command of white officers, they are part of the National Park Service's Civil War Soldiers & Sailors System. Around 18,000 black people joined the Union Navy as sailors, they are part of the National Park Service's War Soldiers & Sailors System. While a handful of Blacks were commissioned as officers in World War I, blacks were underrepresented throughout the conflict, though the NAACP lobbied for the commission of greater numbers of black officers. Upon entering office, President Woodrow Wilson segregated the United States Navy. S. Navy had never been segregated. During World War II, most officers were white and most black troops still served only as truck drivers and as stevedores.

The Red Ball Express, instrumental in facilitating the rapid advance of Allied forces across France after D-Day, was operated exclusively by African-American truck drivers. In the midst of the Battle of the Bulge in late 1944, General Dwight D. Eisenhower was short of replacement troops for existing military units—all of which were white in composition, so he made the decision to allow African-American soldiers to join the white military units to fight in combat for the first time—the first step toward a desegregated United States military. Eisenhower's decision in this case was opposed by his own army chief of staff, Lieutenant General Walter Bedell Smith, outraged by the decision and said that the American public would take offense with the integration of the military units. For the Army Air Corps see the Tuskegee Airmen. For the U. S. Army see the 761st Tank Battalion. In World War II, the U. S. Navy first experimented with integration aboard USCGC Sea Cloud later on USS Mason, a ship with black crew members and commanded by white officers.

Some called it "Eleanor's folly", after President Franklin Roosevelt's wife. Mason's purpose had been to allow black sailors to serve in the full range of billets rather than being restricted to stewards and messmen, as they were on most ships; the Navy was pressured to train black sailors for billets by Eleanor Roosevelt, who insisted that they be given the jobs they had trained for. The U. S. Navy's newest component, the Seabees, had the same ingrained attitudes and approaches but ended up at the forefront of change. In February 1942 CNO Admiral Harold Rainsford Stark recommended African Americans for ratings in the construction trades. In April the Navy announced. So, those men were put into segregated units, the 34th and 80th Naval Construction Battalions. Both had black enlisted. Both battalions experienced problems with that arrangement that led to the replacement of the officers. In addition, many of the stevedore battalions were segregated. However, by wars end many of those Special Construction Battalions were the first integrated units in the U.

S. Navy; the wars end brought the decommissioning of every one of those units. In 1948, President Harry S. Truman's Executive Order 9981 ordered the integration of the armed forces following World War II, a major advance in civil rights. Using the Executive Order meant that Truman could bypass Congress. Representatives of the Solid South, all white Democrats, would have stonewalled related legislation. For instance, in May 1948, Richard B. Russell, Democratic Senator from Georgia, attached an amendment granting draftees and new inductees the opportunity to choose whether or not they wanted to serve in segregated military units to the Selective Service Act, being debated in Congress, but it was defeated in committee. Truman signed Executive Order 9981 on July 26, 1948. In June 1950 when the Selective Services Law came up for renewal, Russell unsuccessfully tried again to attach his segregation amendment. At the end of June 1950, the Korean War broke out; the U. S. Army had accomplished little desegregation in peacetime and sent the segregated Eighth Army to defend South Korea.

Most black soldiers served in segregated support units in the rear. The remainder served in segregated combat units, most notably the 24th Infantry Regiment. The

Cross-country skiing at the 2018 Winter Paralympics will be held at the Alpensia Biathlon Centre, South Korea. The twenty events are scheduled to be held from 11 to 18 March 2018. Canadian Brian McKeever won three individual gold and a team relay bronze, his third triple gold medal performance, for a career total of 13 gold medals and 17 medals in all, making him the most decorated Paralympic cross-country skier ever; the program includes 20 events. The events are divided into three classifications. For each of these classifications, there are three women's events. There are two relay events which combine classifications. Standing skiers are those that have a locomotive disability but are able to use the same equipment as able-bodied skiers, whereas sitting competitors use a sitski. Skiers with a visual impairement compete with the help of a sighted guide; the skier with the visual impairment and the guide are considered a team, dual medals are awarded. Men's events1.1 km / 1.5 km sprint 7.5 km / 10 km 15 km / 20 km Women's events1.1 km / 1.5 km sprint 5 km / 7.5 km 12 km / 15 km Relay events4 x 2.5 km mixed relay 4 x 2.5 km open relay The following is the competition schedule for all twenty events.

All times are local. Cross-country skiing at the 2018 Winter OlympicsMulti-Medallists - cross-country IPC – Official website Official Results Book – Cross-Country Skiing