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Sirisena, Maithripala

(Encyclopedia)Sirisena, Maithripala (Pallewatte Gamaralalage Maithripala Gapa Sirisena), 1951–, Sri Lankan political leader. After an early interest in the Communist party, he joined the Sri Lankan Freedom party ...

Windsor, Wallis Warfield, duchess of

(Encyclopedia)Windsor, Wallis Warfield, duchess of wĭnˈzər [key],1896–1986, American-born wife of Edward, duke of Windsor, who, as Edward VIII, abdicated the British throne in order to marry her. In 1916 she ...

Ahtisaari, Martti Oiva Kalevi

(Encyclopedia)Ahtisaari, Martti Oiva Kalevi äkhˈtēsärrē [key], 1937–, Finnish diplomat, political leader, and international mediator; grad. Univ. of Oulu (1959). Joining (1965) the foreign affairs ministry, ...

Bjørnson, Bjørnstjerne

(Encyclopedia)Bjørnson, Bjørnstjerne byörnˈstyĕrnə byörnˈsōn [key], 1832–1910, Norwegian writer and political leader, one of the major figures of Norwegian literature. He was an influential journalist, w...

Shiites

(Encyclopedia)Shiites shēˈītz [key] [Arab., shiat Ali,=the party of Ali], the second largest branch of Islam, Shiites currently account for 10%–15% of all Muslims. Shiite Islam originated as a political moveme...

Saudi Arabia

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Saudi Arabia säo͞oˈdē ərāˈbēə, souˈ–, sô– [key], officially Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, kingdom (2015 est. pop. 27,752,000), 829,995 sq mi (2,149,690 sq km), comprising most of the ...

Myrdal, Gunnar

(Encyclopedia)Myrdal, Gunnar mĭrˈdäl, Swed. mürˈdäl [key], 1898–1987, Swedish economist, sociologist, and public official; husband of Alva Myrdal. A graduate (1927) of the Univ. of Stockholm, he became lec...

national assembly

(Encyclopedia)national assembly, name of a number of past and present constituent or legislative bodies. In France, under the constitutions of the Fourth and Fifth republics, the lower house of parliament has been ...

Laski, Harold Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Laski, Harold Joseph lăsˈkē [key], 1893–1950, British political scientist, economist, author, and lecturer. A graduate of New College, Oxford, he taught at McGill Univ. (1914–16) and Harvard (1...

Leacock, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Leacock, Richard, 1921–2011, Anglo-American filmmaker, b. London. A key figure in the development of cinéma vérité, he also helped create the camera and sound equipment that made the style possib...