Cotonou is the largest city and economic centre of Benin. Its official population count was 761,137 inhabitants in 2006; the population in 1960 was only 70,000. The urban area continues to expand, notably toward the west; the city lies in the southeast of the country, between the Atlantic Ocean and Lake Nokoué. In addition to being Benin's largest city, it is the seat of government, although Porto-Novo is the official capital, it is home to most of the country's government buildings and diplomatic services. The name "Cotonou" means "by the river of death" in the Fon language. At the beginning of the 19th century, Cotonou was a small fishing village, is thought to have been formally founded by King Ghezo of Dahomey in 1830, it grew as a centre for the slave trade, palm oil and cotton. In 1851 the French Second Republic made a treaty with King Ghezo that allowed them to establish a trading post at Cotonou. During the reign of King Glele, the territory was ceded to the Second French Empire by a treaty signed in 1878.

In 1883, the French Navy occupied the city to prevent British conquest of the area. After Glele's death in 1889, King Béhanzin unsuccessfully tried to challenge the treaty; the town grew following the building of the harbour in 1908. Cotonou is on the coastal strip between the Atlantic Ocean; the city is cut in two by a canal, the lagoon of Cotonou, dug by the French in 1855. Three bridges are in this area; the Ouémé River flows into the Atlantic Ocean at Cotonou. The city has established transportation infrastructure including air, sea and land routes that facilitate trade with its neighbors Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Togo. Coastal erosion has been noted for several decades, it worsened in 1961 following construction of the Nangbeto deep-water port of Cotonou. A pilot project funded by the United Nations Environment Program revealed that in 40 years, the coast to the east of Cotonou had retreated by 400 meters; this erosion has led many people to leave their homes along the coast. Under Köppen's climate classification, Cotonou features a tropical wet and dry climate, alternating with two rainy seasons and two dry seasons.

In December and January, the city is affected by harmattan winds. Temperatures are constant throughout the year, with the average high temperatures hovering around 30 °C, average low temperatures at around 25 °C. 1979: 320,348 1992: 536,827 2002: 665,100 2013: 679,012 French is the official language of Benin. Other languages spoken in Cotonou include Fon and Yoruba; the Autonomous Port of Cotonou is one of the largest in West Africa. The city is connected to Parakou in the north by the Benin-Niger railway. Cotonou International Airport provides service to the capitals of the region and to France, as well as the major cities of Benin: Parakou, Natitingou and Savé. There are road connections to neighboring countries: Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Togo. A prevalent mode of transport in the city is the motorcycle-taxi, known locally as zémidjan. In 2015 a suburban passenger railway line was being developed between Pahou. Important manufactured goods include palm oil, brewing and cement. Motor vehicles and bicycles are assembled, there are sawmills in the city.

Petroleum products and iron are major exports. There are offshore platforms drilling for oil; the city is a centre for the automotive trade, with European brands being sold from vast open-air parking lots. In the past, Citroën assembled cars locally. By 2012, piracy in the Gulf of Guinea had decreased trade at the port of Cotonou. In the Missebo area is a textile market of African prints handled by Indian wholesalers and retailers. Among the places of worship, Christian churches are predominant: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cotonou, Protestant Methodist Church in Benin, Baptist Church of Benin, Living Faith Church Worldwide, Redeemed Christian Church of God, Assemblies of God. There are Muslim mosques; the city has a campus of the University of Science and Technology of Benin and a campus of the African University of Technology and Management. It hosts one of the most prestigious private universities in Africa, Institut Superieur de Communication d’Organisation et de Management, Iscom University Benin.

The Office de Radiodiffusion et Télévision du Bénin — the national television and radio operator — is based in Cotonou. Timeline of Cotonou Cotonou Agreement List of deep water ports Railway stations in Benin Cotonou Internet Portal

As Syrian Arab Spring protests turned into an all-out civil war, the 822-kilometre-long Syrian–Turkish border became the scene of minor military clashes between the Turkish army and various factions in the war to the south. One of the most serious of these occurred on 3 October 2012, when an artillery shell fired from Syria by the Syrian Army killed five and injured at least ten Turkish citizens in the border town of Akçakale in Şanlıurfa Province, Turkey; the Turkish armed forces artillery units conducted saturation shelling of Syrian military posts. Turkey, supporting Syrian government in the beginning of the Syrian civil war, has condemned Assad over the use of violent force against protesters and has requested his departure from office. In October 2011, Turkey began sheltering the Free Syrian Army, offering the group a safe zone and a base of operation. Together with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, Turkey has provided the rebels with arms and other military equipment. During the 5 December 2011, about 35 armed fighters tried to cross the border of Syria from Turkey, but were engaged by the Syrian border forces who were able to repel them back to Turkey.

Once they were back on Turkish soil, the Turkish army picked them up in trucks and took care of the injured fighters. A further attempt happened during the night of 12 December, when 15 infiltrators tried again to cross the border, they were unsuccessful and two of them were killed by Syrian border patrols. On 22 June 2012, a Turkish F-4 fighter jet was shot down by Syrian government forces. Both pilots were killed. Syria stated that it had shot the fighter down using anti-aircraft artillery near the village of Om al-Tuyour, while it was flying over Syrian territorial waters one kilometre away from land. Turkey's foreign minister stated the jet was shot down in international airspace after accidentally entering Syrian airspace, while it was on a training flight to test Turkey's radar capabilities. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed retaliation, saying: "The rules of engagement of the Turkish Armed Forces have changed... Turkey will support Syrian people in every way until they get rid of the bloody dictator and his gang."

Ankara acknowledged that the jet had flown over Syria for a short time, but said such temporary overflights were common, had not led to an attack before, alleged that Syrian helicopters had violated Turkish airspace five times without being attacked and that a second, search-and-rescue jet had been fired at. Assad expressed regret over the incident. In August 2012, reports appeared in some Turkish newspapers claiming that the Turkish General Staff had deliberately misinformed the Turkish government about the fighter's location when it was shot down; the reports said that a NATO command post at Izmir and a British base in Cyprus had confirmed that the fighter was shot down inside Syrian waters and that radar intelligence from U. S. forces had disproved any "accidentally entered Syrian waters" flightpath error. The General Staff denied the claims; as the clashes between the government forces and the opposition in Syria intensified, artillery shells began to fall across the border onto Turkish soil.

On 3 October 2012 at 16:25 EEST, a bomb fired from Syria hit a house in the central area of Akçakale. A 39-year-old mother and her three children aged between eight and 14 years and another woman of 40 years of age were killed by the blast. Thirteen others, including police officers, were injured. Three of the injured had light wounds while two of them were wounded; the source of the shells and their manufacturer remain unknown as Turkish authorities have not released a ballistic test. At 18:00 the same day, five F-16 fighters from the 8th Main Jet Base Group of the 2nd Tactical Air Force Command at Diyarbakır Air Base and RF-4E reconnaissance aircraft from the 7th Main Jet Base Group Command in Malatya Erhaç Air Base conducted reconnaissance missions along the border, identifying Syrian military targets and relaying their coordinates to the Turkish Armed Forces Command in Ankara. Turkish artillery conducted saturation shelling of these targets with T-155 Fırtına howitzers, which have a firing range of 40–45 kilometres.

The targeted region was Ayn al-Arus of Tal Abyad town in Raqqa Governorate across Akçakale. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Turkish shelling of a military post in Syria on 4 October 2012 resulted in the death of three Syrian soldiers. On 4 October 2012, the Turkish parliament, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey passed a motion by a vote of 320-129 authorizing the use of military ground troops to enter "foreign countries" for operations; the one-year mandate, according to Turkish officials, is not expected to be carried out. On 5 October 2012, shells fired by Syrian artillery in Latakia landed in the rural area of Aşağıpulluyazı village in the Yayladağı district of Hatay Province; the day before, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had announced at a press conference during the official visit of Iranian First Vice President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi that a Syrian shell had fallen in Altınözü, Hatay Province. The second incident caused no damage to persons or property.

After this second incident in Hatay, artillery of the Turkish 3rd Border Battalion stationed in Yayladağı fired on Syrian military targets. A grain depot in Akcakale suffered minor damage from shrapnel from a Syrian mortar round exploding on 6 October 2012, though no injuries were reported. Turkey responded by shelling Syrian military targets over the border and positioning a platoon of ACV-300 armored personnel carriers on the southern edge of Akçakale, with their weapons pointed at Tel Abyad, a town a few kilometres into Syria. On 8 October

"Remix" is a song by American pop group New Kids on the Block from their sixth studio album, 10. The song was released as the album's lead single on January 28, 2013. "Remix" was written by Lars Halvor Jensen, Johannes Jørgensen, Lemar, it was produced by Deekay. The song features Donnie Wahlberg and Joey McIntyre on lead vocals."Remix" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, becoming their first lead single to fail charting since "Be My Girl". However, the song did peak at number 38 on the Adult Top 40 chart, it reached number 81 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart. The song's music video was directed by Rami Hachache, it tells the story of "lonely and awkward wallflower" SunnyD, who blossoms after hearing new music by house band NKOTB at a dance party. Donnie Wahlberg explained to MTV News: "The story of the video is about, it's about someone becoming at peace with their inner beauty; some people might think it's obvious what it might be for the video. Maybe it's about a beautiful girl walking down the runway or a guy stopping and gawking at a beautiful girl, but it's about someone who feels beautiful with who they are and is willing to celebrate that for all the world to see."

PopCrush gave the song 3.5 stars out of five. In her review Jessica Sager wrote, "The song sounds like an adult contemporary answer to The Wanted mixed with Bruno Mars‘ ‘Locked Out of Heaven.’ It has a danceable beat like many of the British bad boys’ tracks, but is stripped down and raw enough to pass for Mars’ latest radio smash as well." Carl Williott of Idolator commended the song's chorus, but criticized its "liberal use of Auto-Tune" and compared Donnie Wahlberg's vocals to Chad Kroeger. Digital download"Remix" – 3:16 On the week of February 16, 2013, the song debuted and peaked at number 81 on the Canadian Hot 100 before leaving the next week, it reappeared at number 85 on the week of June 22 before leaving the chart completely

Humberto Castro is an important Cuban painter. He studied at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes "San Alejandro" and at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana, Cuba. In 1980 he became part of the Taller Experimental de Gráfica and from 1982 until 1985 he was member of the Equipo de Creación Colectiva Hexágono, Havana.'"Hallazgos"', in 1980, was his first individual exhibition and it took place at Teatro Mella, Cuba. In 1988 "Three Cuban Artists" in Gallery 76, Ontario College of Art/Forest City Gallery, Ontario, Canada. Three years after this experience in North America "Humberto Castro. Jeune Peinture", Grand Palais, France. In 1993 "Humberto Castro. L'envol d'Icare". Le Monde de L'Art, Paris and Art 93 Chicago; the New Pier Show, Illinois, USA. In 1995 "Le Radeau d'Ulyses". Le Monde de L'Art, París, France and "Humberto Castro. Nuevos trabajos". Galería Corine Timsit, San Juan, Puerto Rico. In 1997 "Mariano y Humberto Castro". Pan American Art Gallery, Texas, USA. Among his collective exhibitions there is a special one in 1975 that took place at Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes "San Alejandro", Havana.

In 1983 15th International Biennial of Graphic Art, Museum of Modern Art, Slovenia. In 1984 Eighth British International Print Biennale. Cartwright Hall, Lister Park Bradford, United Kingdom, 1st Havana Biennial, Bienal de La Habana. Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de La Habana, Cuba. In 1986 VII Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano y del Caribe. Arsenal de la Marina, San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1989 9 Norwegian International Print Triennale Fredrikstad. Fredrikstad Bibliotek, Norway. In 1991 42é Salon de la Jeune Peinture. Grand Palais, France, 4th Havana Biennial Bienal de La Habana. Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de La Habana, Havana, and in 2000 "La gente en casa". Contemporary collection. 7th Havana Biennial Bienal de La Habana. Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana, CUBA. In 1981 he received the award Primer Premio en Grabado. Primer Salón Nacional de Pequeño Formato, Salón Lalo Carrasco, Hotel Habana Libre. In 1983 Premio Encuentro de Grabado'83. Sala Tespis, Hotel Habana Libre, Havana. On 1984 Engraving First Prize.

I Trienal Internacional de Arte contra la Guerra, Museo Estatal de Majdanek, Poland. In 1986 Award. VII Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano y del Caribe, Arsenal de la Marina, San Juan, Puerto Rico and in 1994 First Prize "Toison d'Or", France. Ambrosino Gallery's collection, Florida Centro de Arte Euro Americano, Venezuela Fondo Cubano de Bienes Culturales, Cuba Galerie Le Monde de L'Art, France Galerie Akié Aricchi, France Museo de la Villa de Capo de Orlando, Italy São Paulo Museum of Art, Sao Paulo, Brazil Museo de Arte Latinoamericano, Nicaragua Museo Estatal de Majdaneck, Poland Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de La Habana, Cuba Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale, Kendall Art Center, Florida New Art of Cuba by Luis Camnitzer.

The Sixth Aizukotetsu-kai, based in Kyoto, is Japan's fourth-largest yakuza organization. Its name comes from the Aizu region, "Kotetsu", a type of Japanese sword, the suffix "-kai", or society. Rather than a stand-alone gang, the Aizukotetsu-kai is a federation of 100 of Kyoto's various yakuza groups, comprising an estimated 7,000 members. In 1992 the Aizukotetsu-kai became one of the first yakuza syndicates named under Japan's new anti-boryokudan legislation, which gave police expanded powers to crack down on yakuza, its chairman at the time, Tokutaro Takayama, campaigned publicly against the new laws, the group launched a lawsuit challenging their constitutionality. In September 1995 the Kyoto District Court threw out the lawsuit. In October 2005, the group formed an alliance with the Sixth Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan's largest yakuza clan now led by Kenichi Shinoda and his second-in-command Kiyoshi Takayama. In July 2014, an unaffiliated person known as "Oujo no ude" negotiated with Kiyoshi Takayama from Yamaguchi-gumi to form a new alliance between the largest syndicates, the most recent addition being the Kudo-kai.

3rd sosai: Riichi Zukoshi, kaicho of the Second Nakajima-kai. 4th: Tokutaro Takayama, kumicho of the Second Nakagawa-gumi. 5th "Orochi" Tanaka Kazuki - second seat is Miyamoto Shizuka "aizukotetsu no hyou", third Shinozaki Haru

Shakal Pe Mat Ja is a comic drama film, directed by Shubh Mukherjee. The film stars Shubh Mukherjee, Saurabh Shukhla, Raghubir Yadav, Aamna Sharif, Zakhir Hussain, Umang Jain, Katare, Chitrak Bandyopadhyay, Harsh Parekh, Mushtaq Khan, Joy Sen Gupta, Aditya Lakhia; the movie was released in India on 18 November 2011. Shakal Pe Mat Ja is a story of four young boys who get caught up as suspects at the Delhi international airport, on a high alert day, they get caught while capturing an American Airlines aircraft landing on their camera, which they claim to have shot for a documentary that they are making. With their explanation and situation not being fruitful they are brought into the interrogation room of the International airport to be questioned by the CISF. With looks that are anti-terrorist, these simple guys get into crazy trouble, as their hold up doesn't turn up the way anyone expected. After all, looks are deceptive. Everything that they say or possess or do leads them to further obstacles.

Whether it's the suspicious footage of the boys being at Rashtriya pati bhawan, or the Arabic and Pakistani Porn that they find in Rohan's bag, Whether it's the bomb like looking device in Dhruv's bag which he states to be his physics project or the fact that the 27-year-old Bulai who resembles a most wanted terrorist and doesn't carry any id or a cell phone. At the same time the Intelligence has reports that a group of terrorists are planning some sort of an attack. Do these 4 guys have any involvement with the terror group or do they have different plans altogether. Are looks always deceptive? Could these four innocent looking guys be hard core terrorists involved in one of the biggest terror plans? Shakal Pe Mat Ja... is a film which deals with all such deceptive goof ups, mistaken identities & madness created due to being there at the wrong place at the wrong time. Innocent Looking maniacs, amateur terror groups, Security forces who are never on time is what Shakal Pe Mat Ja is all about!

Shubh Mukherjee as Ankit Sharma Pratik Katare as Dhruv Sharma Harsh Parekh as Bulai Chitrak Bandyopadhyay as Rohan Malhotra Raghuvir Yadav as Omprakash Saurabh Shukla as ATS Chauhaan Umang Jain as Prachi Aamna Sharif as Amina Zakhir Hussain as Omama With a total box office collection of just 6.5 million Indian Rupees, after the first week, the film flopped at the box office. The film failed to generate positive response from critics because of its bad screenplay and worse direction Official website