Masterton is a large town in the Wellington Region of New Zealand and the seat of the Masterton District. It is the largest town in a region separated from Wellington by the Rimutaka ranges, it is 100 kilometres north-east of Wellington, 39.4 kilometres south of Eketahuna, on the Ruamahanga River. Masterton has an urban population of 22,200, district population of 26,300. Masterton businesses include services for surrounding farmers. Three new industrial parks are being developed in Waingawa and Upper Plain; the town is the headquarters of the annual Golden Shears sheep-shearing competition. Masterton suburbs include: Opaki, Lansdowne, Te Ore Ore on the northern side Eastside and Homebush on the eastern side Upper Plain and Akura on the western side Kuripuni and Solway on the southern side Masterton was founded in 1854 by the Small Farms Association; the association was led by Joseph Masters – after whom the town was named – and aimed to settle working people in villages and on the land. At first Masterton grew but as its farming hinterland became more productive it began to prosper.

In the 1870s it overtook Greytown as Wairarapa's major town. It became a borough in 1877 and was reached by the railway line from Wellington in 1880; the railway became for a time the main line from Wellington to the north of New Zealand and its arrival cemented the town's position as the Wairarapa region's main market and distribution centre. In essence providing support services for rural industry - living off the sheep's back - Masterton's real growth ended with that sector's retrenchment after the 1974 British entry to the trade and political grouping now the European Union. Efforts to decentralise industry to New Zealand's provinces gave Masterton a print works and some other industries but the lost economic activity was not restored. From the 1970s, people and businesses left for opportunities elsewhere. In the 1980s, with government deregulation and protective tariffs lifted, more businesses closed and the town declined further. In April 1965 one of the country's worst industrial accidents occurred at the General Plastics Factory on 170 Dixon Street.

It did not quite qualify to be a city by 1989 when the minimum population requirement for that status was lifted from 20,000 to 50,000. The local Te Oreore marae and Ngā Tau e Waru meeting house are affiliated with the iwi of Ngāti Kahungunu and its hapū of Kahukuraawhitia, Kahukuranui, Ngāti Te Hina, Tahu o Kahungunu and Whiunga, with the iwi of Rangitāne, its hapū of Hinetearorangi, Ngāi Tamahau, Ngāti Hāmua, Ngāti Taimahu, Ngāti Tangatakau, Ngāti Te Noti, Ngāti Te Raetea and Ngāti Te Whātui. Another local marae, Akura Marae, is affiliated with the Ngāti Kahungunu hapū of Ngāti Te Ahuahu and Ngāti Te Hina. and with the Rangitāne hapū of Ngāti Mātangiuru and Ngāti Te Hina. At the 2013 census, Masterton District had a population of 23,352, an increase of 729 people, 3.2 percent, since the 2006 census. Its population is ranked 40th in size out of the 67 districts in New Zealand. There were 9,600 occupied dwellings, 1368 unoccupied dwellings, 42 dwellings under construction. Of the population, 11,226 were male, 12,123 female.

The district had a median age of 4.8 years above the national median age of 38 years. People aged 65 years and over made up 19.1% of the population, compared to 14.3% nationally, people under 15 years made up 20.0%, compared to 20.4% nationally. Masterton's ethnicity was made up of: 86.6% European, 18.6% Maori, 2.4% Asian, 3.3% Pacific Islanders, 0.30% Middle Eastern/Latin American/African, 2.1%'New Zealanders', 0.00% Other. Masterton had an unemployment rate of 7.3% of people 15 years and over, compared to 7.1% nationally. The median annual income of all people 15 years and over was $23,500, compared to $28,500 nationally. Of those, 39.3% earned under $20,000, compared to 38.2% nationally, while 19.7% earned over $50,000, compared to 26.7% nationally. There has been job growth of 1.9% since 2014 resulting in a net increase of 220 jobs. Greatest increases are seen in Beekeeping, Aged Care residential services and Primary Education, Sheep-Beef and Construction. Mean earnings increase of 3.7% since 2014, compared to 3.0% for the Wellington Region and 3.1% for New Zealand.

Masterton enjoys a mild temperate climate grading towards a Mediterranean climate. Due to the geography of the Wairarapa valley and the Tararua Range directly to the west, the town's temperature fluctuates more than nearby inland city of Palmerston North. Masterton experiences warmer, dry summers with highs above 30 °C possible and colder winters with frequent frost and lows below 0 °C. Between 1877 and 1989, Masterton Borough Council governed the area. An early mayor was the storekeeper Myer Caselberg; the Masterton District Council governs the Masterton District territorial authority. It is made up of an elected mayor, a deputy mayor/councillor, nine additional councillors, they are elected under the First Past the Post system in triennial elections, with the last election being held on Saturday 12 October 2019. The current council members are: Lyn Patterson, Graham McClymont, Gary Caffell, Brent Gare, David Holmes, Bex Johnson, Frazer Mailman, Tim Nelson, Tina Nixon, Chris Petersen and Sandy Ryan.

All councillors are elected'At Large'. There are two Iwi representatives, Ra Smith and Tirau Te Tau. Nationally, Masterton is part of the Wairarapa general electorate and the Ikaroa-Rāwhiti Māori electorate. Applications for local government reorganisation from the Greater Wellington Regional Council and the Wairarapa district councils in mid-2013

The 2016 FIBA Intercontinental Cup was the 26th edition of the FIBA Intercontinental Cup. The game was contested by the 2016 FIBA Americas League champions, Guaros de Lara, the 2015–16 FIBA Europe Cup champions, Fraport Skyliners, who at the time were the 3rd-tier level champions of Europe; the champions of the 2015–16 EuroLeague, who would represent Europe in the FIBA Intercontinental Cup, CSKA Moscow, did not participate in the tournament, as a result of the 2015–17 FIBA–Euroleague Basketball controversy. The 2016 FIBA Intercontinental Cup was played with a single-game format, in Frankfurt, on 18 September 2016; when the event was announced, it was announced that the game would be played in the Fraport Arena, the home arena of the Skyliners. Fraport Arena is an arena in Germany, it is used for basketball, it is the home arena of Fraport Skyliners. The arena opened in 1986, it has a seating capacity of 5,002 people, it hosts the annual indoor football tournament, with six teams from the region, such as Eintracht Frankfurt and Kickers Offenbach.

The game was close for the most part of it, but in the end, Guaros proved to be too much for the Skyliners. In the game's final minute, Zach Graham hit a lay-up, and, followed by a Heissler Guillent three pointer, which sealed the victory for Guaros. Zach Graham, who scored 19 points in the game, was named the FIBA Intercontinental Cup Most Valuable Player. Zach Graham - 2016 Intercontinental Basketball Cup FIBA official website 2016 FIBA Intercontinental Cup at FIBA Archive

Abu Bakr Salem Balfaqih was a Yemeni singer born on March 17, 1939. He is nicknamed Abu Aseel, The Father of Khaleeji Music. and The one with the golden larynx. Abu Bakr is famously known in the Arab world by his unique riveting voice, he is one of the few musicians in the Arab world who succeeded at being a singer and composer at the same time and thus, he is considered a complete artist. Before drawing his path in the music world, Abu Bakr worked as a teacher for three years, drawing on his training at a teachers’ institute in Yemen; some of Abu Bakr's patriotic odes to Yemen celebrated the significant historical events such as the abolition of the monarchy in the north in 1962, the independence of the south in 1967, the unification of both the South and North Yemen in 1990. In addition to the Yemeni nationality, Abu Bakr held the Saudi nationality after he moved to Saudi Arabia in the 70's. During his musical career, he worked with other pioneers in the Khaleeji music field including Talal Maddah, Tariq Abdul-Hakim and Shadi Gulf.

His last release was a duet with young Yemeni singer and winner of the “Khaleeji Star” Fouad Abdulwahed. Abu Bakr Salem died on December 10, 2017. Abu Bakr was born in a historic town situated in the Hadhramout Valley south of Yemen, his family is from Ba'Alawi sada. He lost his father at a young age and he was raised by his mother and uncles, his grandfather Abdel Rahman Balfaqih was a famous poet in Hadramout as well. Abu Bakr was married to two women both of Yemeni origin, his son Aseel Abu Bakr Salem followed his steps and he made a strong entrance to the world of Khaleeji music when he joined his father in the song “A Sun Between You and Me.” The song became a hit and remained in the top of charts for a long time. Abu Bakr's “golden larynx” was first discovered while he was a teenager and he was asked to perform the call of prayer in multiple mosques in Tarim; when he became insightful about both poetry and Islamic studies, he started singing nasheeds locally. Abu Bakr's poetic talents were noticed first when he was 17 years old when he wrote his first poem “You are the most beautiful among all roses.”

He started composing his folk songs. At that time, Aden was living a cultural and musical boom as the city was home to rising artists such as the Yemeni poet Lutfi Jafar Iman, the singers Ahmed Bin Ahmed Qasim and Muhammad Saad Abdullah. Inspired by the situation, Abu Bakr began singing at organized events, he was given the opportunity to perform on Aden TV. In 1956, he made his big hit through a broadcast with his first song using his first poem “Ya Ward Mahla Jamalak.” In his career, Abu Bakr brought together all the poems that he turned into songs into one book that he called "A poet First, a Singer Afterwards." Inspired by the great amount of positive feedback that he received after his first appearance on TV and after his hit on the broadcast in Aden, Abu Bakr dedicated two years of hard work to focus on his music career. Within these two years, he released songs including Lima Alqee Al Habib, Khaf Rabek and Ya habib, Ya Kahef Al Rouh In 1958, Abu Bakr left to Beirut with the aim of finding more opportunities as Beirut was known at that time for having a well established regional music hub through its plethora of performance venues, radio stations, well-designed recording studios.

Abu Bakr did reach his aim. The song sold more than 1 million copies and became a hit in the Arab world in a short time, it is still considered one of the classics of the Arabic music Tarab genre. Abu Bakr fled Beirut when the Lebanese civil war broke out in 1975 After leaving Beirut, Abu Bakr settled in the capital city of Saudi Arabia: Riyadh. In Saudi Arabia, Abu Bakr established a close work relationship with the Yemeni poet Hussein Al’Mahdhaar, it was Hussein who would pen most of Abu Bakr's greatest songs and in return, it was Abu Bakr who would voice Hussein's greatest and most memorable compositions. Abu Bakr held concerts across the Gulf countries during his musical career and he drew big crowds at each concert 1968 - Abu Bakr Salem received the Golden Disk for his album Mata Ana Ashoufak. 1978 - He was ranked as the third best voice in the world in contest organized by UNESCO. 1989 - He was awarded the first degree art medallion from the Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh. 1992 - He was granted an Appreciation and Excellence medallion from the Omani Ministry of National Herite.

1999 - He won a prize for best singing performance at Abha Touristic Festival in 1999. 1999 - He was granted another Appreciation medallion from the UAE song festival and an Appreciation certificate for his art accomplishments at the Gulf Song Festival. 2002 - The Arab League honored him along with other Arab art pioneers. 2003 - He won the UNESCO Prize as the second best voice in the world and the cultural medal in 2003. 2003 - The University of Hadhramout awarded Abu Bakr an honorary doctorate degree. Ya Ward Mahlaa Jamalak Ma Fe Ahad Mertah duet with the Kuwaiti singer Abdallah Al Rowaished Khair Al Kalam duet with the Emirati singer Hussain Al Jassmi Sameh duet with the Saudi singer Rashed Al-Majed Sirr Hobbi Kama Al Reeshah Bashil Hobak Ya Mesafer Abu Bakr suffered from health problems for the last 10 years of his life, he had an open heart surgery and suffered a kidney failure when he was being treated in Mun

István Regős is a well-known Hungarian painter, artist. 1969-73 – Secondary School for Fine & Applied Arts, Budapest 1973-74 – Hungarian Contractor Company – ornamental paintworks in Budapest: Museum of Fine Art, Mansions on Andrássy Avenue, The Houses of Parliament, Institute for the Blind 1975-80 – Hungarian College of Fine Art, Budapest. Diploma in painting. From 1986 – Member of the Studio of Young Artists, the Society of Hungarian Painters, the Workshop of Graphic Arts in Szentendre, founding member of the ARTeria Gallery in Szentendre. From 1973 – Lives and works in Szentendre. 1998 – With his wife, Anna Regős founded the Palmetta Design Gallery in Szentendre. 2013 – Palmetta Design & Textile Art Gallery opens in Budapest. 1985 - Vajda Lajos Studio Gallery, Szentendre 1987 - Childhood, Club of Young Artists, Budapest 1989 – Reform Age, Studio of Young Artists Gallery, Budapest 1992 – Windy Times, Fészek Művészklub, Budapest Gallery Várfok, Budapest 1994 – Gallery Várfok, Budapest 1995 – Gallery of the Szentendre Art Colony 1996 – Gallery Várfok, Budapest 2000 – ARTéria Gallery, Szentendre 2002 – Gallery Várfok, Budapest 2005 – Szentendre Picture Gallery, Szentendre 2006 – Időutazás, Gallery Várfok, Budapest Raiffeisen Gallery, Budapest 2008 – Bartók 32 Gallery, Budapest 2009 – 20’21 Gallery, Budapest Europ’art, Geneva 2010 – Gyulai Várszínház Gallery, Gyula Art Fair, Budapest 2012 – BTM Budapest Gallery, Budapest 1983-2002 – Szentendrei Tárlatok 1986-1991 – Stúdiós kiállítások 1988 – Szaft - A V:L:S: és meghívott vendégeinek közös kiállítása, Ernst Múzeum, Budapest 1990 – Hungarian Painting, Sweden 1990 – Six Hungarian Artists, South-Korea 1990 – Easter-European Painting, De Dolen, The Netherlands 1991 – Budapest - Contemporary Hungarian Art, Dublin, Írország 1992 – Kortárs magyar festészeti kiállítás, Experimental Art Foundation, Ausztrália 1994 – Festival International de la Peinture, Cagnes-sur-Mer, Franciaország 1995 – Piranesi, Szépművészeti Múzeum, Budapest 1997 – Magyar Szalon, Műcsarnok, Budapest 1997 – Olaj-vászon, Műcsarnok, Budapest 1997 – Budapest 125, Budapest Galéria, Budapest 1999 – Kortárs Magyar Művészet, Europalia Festival, Brüsszel 2001 – Dialógus, Műcsarnok, Budapest 2001 – A XX. század ujjlenyomata, Budapesti Történeti Múzeum, Budapest 2003 – Metropolisz, Várfok Galéria XO terem, Budapest 2004 – Reflexiók, Várfok Galéria XO terem, Budapest 2005 – ARC poetika, Várfok Galéria XO terem, Budapest 2006 – Az út 1956–2006, Műcsarnok, Budapest 2007 – Akkor és most - válogatás a Fiatal Képzőművészek Stúdiójának archívumából, Millenáris Teátrum, Budapest 2008 – Kép a képben, Várfok Galéria, Budapest 2009 – Tolerance In Art - szlovák és magyar művészek kiállítása, Szlovákia 2010 – 11 év - Válogatás a Ferenczy Múzeum új szerzeményeiből, Szentendrei Képtár 2010 – Hommage á Puskás Öcsi, Hotel Boscolo, New York Palota, Budapest 2010 – Kapcsolat 2010, Kecskemét, Nagybánya 2010 – Különleges, MeMoArt Galéria, Budapest 2011 – Hommage á Liszt Ferenc, Eötvös 10 Kulturális Színtér, Budapest 2011 – ART MARKET Budapest, Millenáris 2011 – Hungart Ösztöndíj beszámoló kiállítás, Olof Palme-ház, Budapest 2011 – Lineart, Belgium 2012 – ART PARIS Art Fair, Grand Palais, Paris 2013 – ARTPLACC, Tihany 2014 – ARTPLACC, Tihany 2014 – Hungaricons - Kárpáti Collection, Várkert Bazár, Budapest 2014 – Ein blicke - Künstler aus Szentendre, Atelier Schwab, Wertheim am Main, Germany 2015 – Here and Now - Fine arts.

National Salon 2015. Hall of Art, Budapest 1986, 1988 – Awards of the Studio of Young Artists 1988-1990 – Szőnyi-scholarship 1991 – I. Grotesque Competition - Main Prize 1992 – Repülés-szárnyalás exhibition - Main Prize 1992 – Scholarship of the City of Salzburg 1996 – Scholarship of the City of Salzburg 2004 – Munkácsy Mihály-díj 2010 – Hungart Scholarship Ferenczy Museum, Szentendre Memorial Museum of István Széchenyi, Nagycenk Tragor Ignác Museum, Vác Collection of László Károly, Basel Collection of László Károly, Veszprém Galerie Bartha, Basel Graphisoft Park Collection, Budapest Budapest Bank Collection, Budapest Raiffeissen Bank Collection, Budapest www.regos.co.hu - Official site of István Regős István Regős on Artportal

Bush Mechanics is a 2001 television documentary series directed by David Batty and produced by the Warlpiri Media Association, featuring an Indigenous Australian take on motor mechanics. A bush mechanic, in Australian parlance, is someone who uses unorthodox techniques and available materials to build or fix mechanical problems. An American analogue would be the television show character MacGyver who shares similar resourceful and lateral-cognitive traits; the television show featured Aboriginal people from Yuendumu fixing cars in such a way as they travelled through Central Australia. As they traverse the desert in their dilapidated vehicles, the series followed how they solved multiple car problems with inventive and unpredictable bush repair techniques. One example from the series involved a station wagon with the band's equipment on the roof. Since the car was old, the back half collapsed, they removed the roof of the car with an axe, turned it upside down, tied it to the back of the car, loaded the items from the roof onto the same roof--but it is now used as a trailer.

They continued down the sandy track dragging the roof behind them. The television show consisted of five episodes: one initial half-hour documentary, which garnered international recognition, four subsequent episodes, it was first broadcast by ABC Television on 2 October 2001. The episodes included: Motorcar Ngutju Payback The Chase The RainmakersLanguage: The series is notable for being one of the first media to be in an Aboriginal language as much of the dialog is in Warlpiri and Kriol. Australian Film InstituteOpen Craft Award: Francis Jupurrula Kelly, For the original concept. ABC TV webpage describing the series

Robert Hawker was an Anglican priest in Devon vicar of Charles Church, Plymouth. Called "Star of the West" for his popular preaching, he was known as an author; the Cornish poet Robert Stephen Hawker was his grandson. Hawker was born in Exeter in 1753 to a surgeon in Exeter, he was married aged 19 to Anna Rains, they had eight children altogether. Hawker studied medicine in Plymouth under Samuel White of Bretonside, joined the Royal Marines as assistant surgeon. In 1778 he entered Oxford. Hawker was a few months at Looe as a curate and appointed as assistant curate to Charles Church under John Bedford, he was ordained in 1779. He succeeded Bedford on his death in 1784 and held the living until his own death in 1827, he was a man of great frame, burly and with blue eyes that sparkled and a fresh complexion. His humour was deep and razor sharp and his wit popular although he had a solemn exterior and in conversation would resort to silence while contemplating a difficult retort, he was an excellent scholar.

As soon as he arrived as curate he started writing and poured out over the year a long list of books, volumes of sermons, a theological treatise, a popular commentary, a guide to communion and books of lessons in reading and writing for the schools. For a work of his on the divinity of Christ the University of Edinburgh conferred upon him a degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1792, he produced the “Poor Man’s Morning and Evening Portions” that were used long after his death. It was in the pulpit that "the Doctor" was best loved. Thousands flocked to hear the “Star of the West” preach when he was in London. An Evangelical he proclaimed the love of God, he was said to have great Biblical knowledge and could preach a good sermon on any passage at a moments notice. If his grandson Robert Stephen can be trusted his preaching won the admiration of King George III who used to hand him a text just before he went to the pulpit, his preaching was with power, animation and yet with a human touch. He was an extempore preacher who began, despite clergy or the Bishop’s protest, with an extempore prayer.

He held vast audiences for 80 minutes. On a spring or autumn evening he would be lost in the evening shadow before finishing, his voice and the majesty of the theme holding people to the end, he was not a man of books and sermons. “The Doctor” took his responsibilities seriously. He visited his parishioners and was diligent in his responsibilities to the poor; when food was scarce after the long wars with France in 1817 he started a scheme of selling sixpenny loaves for three pence supported by donations from his congregation and distributed 1,000 loaves. He was a little eccentric and one day marched onto a baker’s shop and after buying an eight-pound loaf he placed it under his arm; the baker offered to send it to his home but Hawker said “No I am going to take it to a starving family nearby, a man and his eight children. But if you give me another loaf I will carry that as well”; the baker complied without a word. He started the Misericordia Fund in 1794 to provide for the relief of destitute strangers.

A refuge for prostitutes followed after. In 1809 as troops returned from Spain several ships put in at Plymouth and he helped bring ashore hundreds of men suffering diverse fevers, they were housed in a nearby barn and hundreds of them died in the next week. Over 300 townspeople fell victim to the fevers. Hawker and his wife scorned their personal risk. In 1813 Dr Hawker began the Corpus Christi Society to search out and seek the distressed members of Christ’s body, it was not limited by parish boundaries or denomination but the needs of Christians were met where they were found. One of his earliest passions, whilst still a curate, was to start a Sunday school; the Sunday School movement may have been started when in 1780 Robert Raikes in Gloucester opened the first Sunday School. Children at that time had to work six days a week, leaving little time to study after work in the week. To counter the effects of ignorance and illiteracy the Sunday school movement started. Literacy was taught from the Bible.

On 21 January 1787 the “Household of Faith” Sunday school was opened in Plymouth with twenty poor children gathered from the streets. Before long the popularity of the school together with the addition of a weekday “School of Industry” required moving to larger premises. In 1798 with numbers at 341 a permanent building was built, it is this was the second Sunday school started in the country and one of the first to have a permanent building. The funds for this building were not forthcoming but the trustees went ahead anyway thus bestowing its name. Of his eight children, his eldest, John Hawker became curate of the ancient local church of Stoke Damerel. A passionate Evangelical like his father, he drew criticism from the Bishop, was removed from the living, his parishioners built him another church, St Peter's. One of Hawker's grandsons was Robert Stephen Hawker, vicar of Morwenstow, the son of Jacob Stephen Hawker, he gained fame as an eccentric Cornish poet. At his death in 1827 Hawker had been curate for forty-three years its minister.

It is said. Comb, George A Tribute of Respect to Departed Greatness: being the substance of a sermon, delivered on occasion of the decease of the Rev. Robert Hawker, D. D. Vicar of Charles, Plymouth, at Soho Chapel, Oxford Street, Lord's day evening, 15 April 1827. London: Ebenezer Palmer Mutter, George (182