A libretto is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, masque, cantata or musical. The term libretto is sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as the Mass and sacred cantata, or the story line of a ballet. Libretto, from Italian, is the diminutive of the word libro. Sometimes other-language equivalents are used for libretti in that language, livret for French works and Textbuch for German. A libretto is distinct from a synopsis or scenario of the plot, in that the libretto contains all the words and stage directions, while a synopsis summarizes the plot; some ballet historians use the word libretto to refer to the 15–40 page books which were on sale to 19th century ballet audiences in Paris and contained a detailed description of the ballet's story, scene by scene. The relationship of the librettist to the composer in the creation of a musical work has varied over the centuries, as have the sources and the writing techniques employed.

In the context of a modern English language musical theatre piece, the libretto is referred to as the book of the work, though this usage excludes sung lyrics. Libretti for operas and cantatas in the 17th and 18th centuries were written by someone other than the composer a well-known poet. Pietro Trapassi, known as Metastasio was one of the most regarded librettists in Europe, his libretti were set many times by many different composers. Another noted, he wrote the libretti for three of Mozart's greatest operas, for many other composers as well. Eugène Scribe was one of the most prolific librettists of the 19th century, providing the words for works by Meyerbeer, Bellini, Donizetti and Verdi; the French writers' duo Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy wrote a large number of opera and operetta libretti for the likes of Jacques Offenbach, Jules Massenet and Georges Bizet. Arrigo Boito, who wrote libretti for, among others, Giuseppe Verdi and Amilcare Ponchielli composed two operas of his own; the libretto is not always written before the music.

Some composers, such as Mikhail Glinka, Alexander Serov, Rimsky-Korsakov and Mascagni wrote passages of music without text and subsequently had the librettist add words to the vocal melody lines. Some composers wrote their own libretti. Richard Wagner is most famous in this regard, with his transformations of Germanic legends and events into epic subjects for his operas and music dramas. Hector Berlioz, wrote the libretti for two of his best-known works, La Damnation de Faust and Les Troyens. Alban Berg adapted Georg Büchner's play Woyzeck for the libretto of Wozzeck. Sometimes the libretto is written in close collaboration with the composer. In the case of musicals, the music, the lyrics and the "book" may each have its own author. Thus, a musical such as Fiddler on the Roof has a composer, a lyricist and the writer of the "book". In rare cases, the composer writes everything except the dance arrangements – music and libretto, as Lionel Bart did for Oliver!. Other matters in the process of developing a libretto parallel those of spoken dramas for stage or screen.

There are the preliminary steps of selecting or suggesting a subject and developing a sketch of the action in the form of a scenario, as well as revisions that might come about when the work is in production, as with out-of-town tryouts for Broadway musicals, or changes made for a specific local audience. A famous case of the latter is Wagner's 1861 revision of the original 1845 Dresden version of his opera Tannhäuser for Paris; the opera libretto from its inception was written in verse, this continued well into the 19th century, although genres of musical theatre with spoken dialogue have alternated verse in the musical numbers with spoken prose. Since the late 19th century some opera composers have written music to prose or free verse libretti. Much of the recitatives of George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess, for instance, are DuBose and Dorothy Heyward's play Porgy set to music as written – in prose – with the lyrics of the arias, duets and choruses written in verse; the libretto of a musical, on the other hand, is always written in prose.

The libretto of a musical, if the musical is adapted from a play, may borrow their source's original dialogue liberally – much as Oklahoma! used dialogue from Lynn Riggs's Green Grow the Lilacs, Carousel used dialogue from Ferenc Molnár's Liliom, My Fair Lady took most of its dialogue word-for-word from George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, Man of La Mancha was adapted from the 1959 television play I, Don Quixote, which supplied most of the dialogue, the 1954 musical version of Peter Pan used J. M. Barrie's dialogue; the musical Show Boat, different from the Edna Ferber novel from which it was adapted, uses some of Ferber's original dialogue, notably during the miscegenation scene. And Lionel Bart's Oliver! Uses chunks of dialogue from Charles Dickens's novel

Samir Shaker Mahmoud is an Iraqi football defender who played for Iraq in the 1986 FIFA World Cup. He played for Al-Rasheed Club. Samir Shaker was one of the best central defenders during the 1980s, he started his career with Al-Jaish before moving to Salah-Al-Deen of Tikrit, who he captained the club to their first Iraqi league in 1983. After the title win and fellow team-mate Anad Abid joined the star-studded Baghdad-based club Al-Rasheed helping the club to 4 league titles, 2 cups and a record 3 Arab Championships. In 1986, in the Arab Club Championship in Tunisia, Samir scored the solitary goal over Esperance of Tunisia helping Al Rasheed to win their second Arab title. Shaker played for Iraq in the 1986 FIFA World Cup. In a game against Belgium Shaker spat at the referee; the result would never play for his country again. He is the most successful Bangladesh national coach having led Bangladesh to the runners-up trophy in the SAFF Football Championships and to the 1999 SAF Games title in Nepal, he coached club sides Abahani Krira Chakra and Mohammedan Sporting of Bangladesh.

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The 2018 Northern Iowa Panthers football team represented the University of Northern Iowa in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The team was led by Mark Farley in his 18th season and played their home games in the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa as a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference, they finished the season 5 -- 3 in MVFC play to finish in a tie for third place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs, where they defeated Lamar in the first round before losing to UC Davis in the second round; the Panthers finished the 2017 season 6 -- 2 in MVFC play to finish in a tie for second place. The Panthers received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where they defeated Monmouth in the first round before losing in the second round to South Dakota State; the MVFC released their preseason poll on July 29, 2018, with the Panthers predicted to finish in third place. The Panthers placed six players on the preseason all-MVFC teams. Source: Schedule