Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island is a 1995 platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. To reunite baby Mario with his brother Luigi, kidnapped by Kamek, the player controls Yoshi, a friendly dinosaur, through 48 levels while carrying Baby Mario; as a Super Mario series platformer, Yoshi runs and jumps to reach the end of the level while solving puzzles and collecting items. In a style new to the series, the game has a hand-drawn aesthetic and is the first to have Yoshi as its main character; the game introduces his signature abilities to flutter jump and produce eggs from swallowed enemies. The game is well-known for its unique artstyle, which contrasted with the pre-rendered artstyle of contemporary games popularized by Donkey Kong Country. After four years of development, Yoshi's Island released in Japan in August 1995, worldwide two months later; some of its special effects were powered by a new Super FX2 microchip. The game was rereleased for the Game Boy Advance with few changes in 2002.

This version was ported to the Nintendo 3DS in 2011 and the Wii U Virtual Console in 2014. Yoshi's Island received "instant" and "universal acclaim", according to IGN and review aggregator Metacritic, sold over four million copies. Reviewers praised the art, level design, gameplay, posited Yoshi's Island as a masterpiece and one of the greatest video games of all time; the game brought newfound renown to both Yoshi as a character and Miyamoto's artistic and directorial career. The distinct art style and Yoshi's signature characteristics established in Yoshi's Island would carry throughout a series of cameos, spin-offs, sequels, including the 1997 Yoshi's Story, 2006 Yoshi's Island DS, 2014 Yoshi's New Island, 2019's Yoshi's Crafted World, it was the last 2D game in the Super Mario series released on a home console until New Super Mario Bros. Wii over a decade later. Yoshi's Island is a 2D side-scrolling platform game, its story begins as a Magikoopa of the Koopalings attacks a stork delivering baby brothers Mario and Luigi.

They succeed in kidnapping Baby Luigi, but Baby Mario falls out of the sky and onto the back of Yoshi, the titular friendly dinosaur and player-character of the single-player game. While the player controlled Mario and rode Yoshi in previous series games, in Yoshi's Island, the player controls one of many Yoshis, which take turns traveling through 48 levels across six worlds to rescue Baby Luigi and reunite the brothers. In the Super Mario series platform game tradition, the player controls Yoshi with a two-button run and jump control scheme; the player navigates between platforms and atop some foes en route to the end of the difficult levels. Yoshi collects coins to earn extra lives and retains his long tongue from Super Mario World; the game centers more on "puzzle-solving and item-collecting" than other platformers, with hidden flowers and red coins to find. Levels include mines, ski jumps, "the requisite fiery dungeons"; every fourth level is a boss fight against a large version of a previous foe.

In a style new to the series, the game has a coloring book aesthetic with "scribbled crayon" backgrounds, Yoshi vocalizes with its every action. Expanding on his "trademark tongue" ability to swallow enemies, Yoshi, as the focus of the game, was given a new move set: the ability to "flutter jump", throw eggs, transform; the flutter jump gives Yoshi a secondary boost when the player holds the jump button. It became his new "trademark move", similar to that of Luigi in Super Mario Bros. 2. Yoshi can pound the ground from mid-air to bury objects or break through soft earth; the dinosaur's long tongue grabs enemies at a distance. Swallowed enemies can either be spat as projectiles or stored for use as an egg; the player individually aims and fires the eggs at obstacles via a new targeting system. The eggs bounce off of surfaces in the environment. Up to six eggs can be stored this way, will trail behind the character. Yoshi can eat certain items for power-up abilities. For instance, watermelons let Yoshi shoot seeds from his mouth like a machine gun, fire enemies turn his mouth into a flamethrower.

Other power-ups transform Yoshi into vehicles including cars, drills and submarines. A star power-up makes Baby Mario invulnerable and extra fast. While Yoshi is "virtually invincible", if hit by an enemy, Baby Mario will float off his back in a bubble while a timer counts down to zero; when the timer expires, Koopas arrive to take Baby Mario and Yoshi loses a life. The player can replenish the timer by collecting small stars and power-ups. However, Yoshi can lose a life if he comes into contact with obstacles such as pits, spikes and thorns. Similar to Super Mario World, the player can hold a power-up in reserve, such as a "+10 star" or a "magnifying glass"; these power-ups are acquired in several minigames. At the end of each level, the Yoshi relays Baby Mario to the successive Yoshi. If the player perfects all eight levels in each world by finishing with all flowers, red coins, full 30 seconds on the timer, two hidden levels will unlock. There are three save slots on the cartridge; the Game Boy Advance version adds an exclusive bonus level for each world with 100% level completion.

It includes four-player support via link cable, but only to play Mario Bros. A pack-in feature included on the other Super Mario Advance games. After the release of Super Mario World, the character of Yoshi gained popularity and starred in puzzle game spin-offs such as Yoshi and Yoshi's Cookie. At this time, Super Mario World character designer Shigefumi Hino was approached b

The Norman invasion of Malta was an attack on the island of Malta inhabited predominantly by Muslims, by forces of the Norman County of Sicily led by Roger I in 1091. The invaders besieged Medina, the main settlement on the island, but the inhabitants managed to negotiate peace terms; the Muslims freed Christian captives, swore an oath of loyalty to Roger and paid him an annual tribute. Roger's army sacked Gozo and returned to Sicily with the freed captives; the attack did not bring about any major political change, but it paved the way for the re-Christianization of Malta, which began in 1127. Over the centuries, the invasion of 1091 was romanticized as the liberation of Christian Malta from oppressive Muslim rule, a number of traditions and legends arose from it, such as the unlikely claim that Count Roger gave his colours red and white to the Maltese as their national colours; the Norman conquest of southern Italy began in around the beginning of the 11th century. The conquest of Sicily was complete by 1091, with the fall of the last Muslim stronghold of Noto.

Their location off the coast of Sicily made the Maltese Islands a natural target for Norman expansion to conclude the conquest of Sicily. Plans to attack Malta had been made by Robert Guiscard as early as 1072. At the time, Malta was inhabited by Muslims. According to Al-Himyarī, the island had been depopulated following an Aghlabid attack in 870 AD and it was repopulated by a Muslim community in 1048–49. Archaeological evidence suggests that Medina was a thriving Muslim settlement by the beginning of the 11th century, so 1048–49 might be the date when the city was founded and its walls were constructed, it is possible that the Muslims who inhabited Malta were refugees who had fled Sicily due to the Arab–Byzantine wars. The Byzantines made an unsuccessful attempt to recapture Malta in 1053–54; the Norman fleet led by Count Roger I left Cape Scalambri in Sicily in June or July 1091 and arrived in Malta within two days. Roger's eldest son, Jordan of Hauteville, had wanted to command the expedition against Malta but Roger decided to go in person because he feared that his son might defect to the Muslims.

Roger's ship arrived first since it was faster than the others, he disembarked with thirteen knights. The inhabitants offered some resistance to the invaders. Count Roger went after some of those who fled, returned to the landing point that day. By the entire army had disembarked and was encamped on the shoreline. At daybreak on the next day and his army marched to the island's capital and besieged it; the ruler of the city and its inhabitants were terrified at the invading army, asked to meet the Count to discuss peace terms. They freed all the Christian prisoners, gave horses, all their weapons and a sum of money to the Normans, they agreed to swear an oath of loyalty to Roger and pay an annual tribute. The Christian captives rejoiced at their freedom, they held wooden or reed crosses, sang Kyrie eleison and flung themselves at Roger's feet; the Christians embarked on Roger's ships, they went to Sicily. On the way, the Normans sacked Malta's sister island, Gozo. Upon arrival on Sicily, Roger offered to build a settlement known as "Villafranca" for the freed captives, which would be exempt from taxation.

Those who chose to return to their homes were offered free passage through the Straits of Messina. In 1192, Tancred of Sicily appointed Margaritus of Brindisi the first Count of Malta for his unexpected success in capturing Empress Constance contender to the throne. In 1194 Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor husband of Constance conquered Kingdom of Sicily, thus the county of Margaritus was forfeited; the most reliable near-contemporary source regarding the Norman invasion of Malta is an account by the 11th-century historian Goffredo Malaterra. This acclaims the actions of Count Roger. In centuries, the Norman invasion was romanticized into a tale where Roger liberated the Christians of Malta from oppressive Muslim rule, this concept entered Maltese tradition and folklore; the idea of a surviving Maltese Christian population throughout the period of Muslim rule was promoted by the 17th-century historian Giovanni Francesco Abela. There is no evidence of a surviving indigenous Christian population, although this has been disputed and there is little evidence from the period of 870–1091 in general.

It is believed that the Christian captives freed in 1091 were not indigenous Maltese or Sicilians, but were from Italy or elsewhere in Europe. By the 19th century, a number of unsourced "details" had been added by different authors into accounts of the Norman invasion; these include speculation that some Maltese assisted the Normans in their attack against the Muslims, that Roger allowed the Arabs to remain in Malta and continue to practice their religion. Some accounts stated that after the invasion Roger established a popular council and gave laws and privileges to the Maltese. Roger was credited with granting the colours of the Hauteville family – red and white – to the Maltese as their coat of arms and national colours; this attribution seems to originate from a pamphlet dated 1841. Today and white form the basis of the flag and coat of arms of Malta, but the claim that the colours originate from the 1091 invasion is unsubstantiated and unlikely. Local traditions and legends related a number of places around Malta to the Norman invasion.

Miġra l-Ferħa, a small inlet near Mtaħleb on the western coast of Malta, is said to have been the place where Roger and his army landed. Ferħ means "joy" in Maltese, it was thought that the place name orig

Gaius is a genus of large mygalomorph spiders in the family Idiopidae. Erected in 1914, for much of its history the genus contained only one species, Gaius villosus. More species were added in 2018. All are endemic to Western Australia. Species of Gaius are large spiders dark brown or black. Females have a body length of around 30 -- males around 20 -- 35 mm; the carapace has a dense fringe of hairs along the sides. The abdomen is oval, densely covered with hairs. Males have pedipalps with a retrolateral tibial apophysis, which in most species is long. Females have a pair of simple spaced spermathecae; the genus Gaius was erected by W. J. Rainbow in 1914 for his new species Gaius villosus. In 1957, Barbara York Main transferred G. villosus to the genus Anidiops, noting the inadequacy of many characters used in mygalomorph taxonomy. Main placed the species within the family Ctenizidae. By 2017, the Ctenizidae had been split, the tribe Aganippini was placed in the subfamily Arbanitinae of the family Idiopidae.

A major study of the Arbanitinae, including molecular phylogenetic evidence, concluded that Gaius was a distinct genus, although all the other species of Anidiops were placed in the genus Idiosoma. Gaius remained a monotypic genus until 2018. Within the tribe Aganippini, Gaius is sister to the genus Eucyrtops: As of April 2019, the World Spider Catalog accepted the following species: Gaius aurora Rix, Raven & Harvey, 2018 – Australia Gaius austini Rix, Raven & Harvey, 2018 – Australia Gaius cooperi Rix, Raven & Harvey, 2018 – Australia Gaius hueyi Rix, Raven & Harvey, 2018 – Australia Gaius humphreysi Rix, Raven & Harvey, 2018 – Australia Gaius mainae Rix, Raven & Harvey, 2018 – Australia Gaius tealei Rix, Raven & Harvey, 2018 – Australia Gaius villosus Rainbow, 1914 – Australia Gaius species are found in a broad region in the south-west of Western Australia, they are most common in mallee woodlands, Acacia woodlands and shrublands, spinifex plains, where the soil is clay or hard loam. They construct deep burrows with a flap- or wafer-like door

Fernando de Noronha Environmental Protection Area is a protected area on the island of Fernando de Noronha in the Atlantic ocean offshore from Pernambuco state, Brazil. The protected area, which covers 884 hectares of coastal marine land, was established on 5 June 1986, it is administered by the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation. The reserve is part of the Fernando de Noronha municipality of Pernambuco state; the area covers the urban part of the island of Fernando de Noronha, while the Fernando de Noronha National Park covers the rest. The area includes a large marine extension to the Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago, in the National Park. Much of the original vegetation of the island was cut when it was used as a prison, to make it harder for prisoners to hide. After that non-native species flaxseed, were introduced to feed livestock and have spread uncontrollably; the teju lizard was introduced in an unsuccessful attempt to control an infestation of rats, the lizard is a problem.

Despite the stated objective of recovery of the environment, sheep continued to be farmed on the island. The reserve is classed as IUCN protected area category V, protected landscape/seascape; the purpose is to conserve the environment and fauna, while recognizing the needs of tourism. Protected species include green sea turtle, the coral Phyllogorgia dilatata and the fish species island hogfish, Anthias salmopunctatus and Stegastes sanctipauli

Thirumeignanam Gnanaparameswarar Temple is a Hindu temple located at Thirumeignanam in Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu, India. The temple is dedicated to Shiva, as the moolavar presiding deity, in his manifestation as Gnanaparameswarar, his consort, Parvati, is known as Gnanambikai. The place is known as Tirunallur Mayaanam, it is one of the shrines of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams - Shiva Sthalams glorified in the early medieval Tevaram poems by Tamil Saivite Nayanar Tirugnanasambandar. Tirugnanasambandar describes the feature of the deity as: "Sri Gnanaparameswarar temple". Dinamalar. "Palasavanesar Temple, Tirunallur Mayaanam". Shiva Temples of Tamil Nadu, Paadal Petra Sivasthalangal

This is a list of the longest regular season losing streaks in National Basketball Association history. Streaks started at the end of one season are carried over into the following season; the Philadelphia 76ers lost 28 straight games spanning two seasons: 2014–15 and 2015–16, the most consecutive losses in NBA history. The 76ers broke their own previous record of 26 consecutive losses set in the 2013–14 season; the 2013–14 76ers are tied with the 2010–11 Cleveland Cavaliers for the longest single season losing streak. The Detroit Pistons are on a 14 game NBA playoff losing the longest ever; the Sacramento Kings have the longest postseason win drought, needing 15 seasons to get a playoff win. This list contains only streaks consisting of postseason games. List of National Basketball Association longest winning streaks List of NBA teams by single season win percentage Basketball-Reference.com list of longest losing streaks Basketball-Reference.com list of longest playoffs losing streaks