A journalist collects and disseminates information about current events, people, trends, and issues. His or her work is acknowledged as journalism.

Reporters are one type of journalist. They create reports or articles as a profession for broadcast or publication in mass media such as newspapers, television, radio, magazines, documentary film, or the Internet. Reporters cultivate sources for their work, their reports can be either spoken or written, and they are often expected to report in the most objective and unbiased way to serve the public good. A columnist is a journalist who writes pieces that appear regularly in newspapers or magazines. A polemical journalist combines reportage with personal opinion.

Depending on the context, the term ''journalist'' also includes various types of editors and visual journalists, such as photographers, graphic artists, and page designers.

Journalist prison census

According to the ''2008 prison census'' by the Committee to Protect Journalists, the world's foremost jailers of journalists are: # People's Republic of China # Cuba # Burma # Eritrea # Uzbekistan The Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists publish reports on press freedom and organize informational campaigns.

See also

Accessinterviews.com

Critic

Military journalist

War correspondent

Notes

References

Fowler, Nathaniel Clark. (1913). ''The Handbook of Journalism: All about Newspaper Work.--Facts and Information of Vital Moment to the Journalist and to All who Would Enter this Calling.'' New York: Sully and Kleinteich.

Huffman, James L. (2003). ''A Yankee in Meiji Japan: The Crusading Journalist.'' Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. 10-ISBN 0-742-52621-6; 13-ISBN 978-0-742-52621-1

Randall, David. (2000). ''The Universal Journalist.'' Sterling Virginia: Pluto Press. 10-ISBN 0-745-31641-7; 13-ISBN 978-0-745-31641-3; OCLC 43481682

Stone, Ejijah Melville. (1921) ''Fifty Years a Journalist.'' New York: Doubleday, Page and Company. OCLC 1520155

Woods, Donald. (1981). ''Asking for Trouble: Autobiography of a Banned Journalist.'' New York: Atheneum. 10-ISBN 0689111592; 13-ISBN 978-0-689-11159-4; OCLC 6864121

Media Club of Pakistan www.iranewschannel.com www.apnaira.com

External links

Society of Professional Journalists

Twenty key points every TV journalist should know

Journalists Category:Media occupations

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Coordinates	40°26′30″N80°00′00″N
name	Bob Woodward
birthname	Robert Upshur Woodward
birth date	March 26, 1943
birth place	Geneva, Illinois, U.S.
age	66
education	Yale University, B.A., 1965
occupation	Journalist
gender	Male
status	married
spouse	Elsa Walsh
children	Two daughters
credits	''The Washington Post''
url	http://www.bobwoodward.com/ }}

Robert Upshur Woodward (born March 26, 1943) is an American investigative journalist and non-fiction author. He has worked for ''The Washington Post'' since 1971 as a reporter, and is currently an associate editor of the Post. While a young reporter for ''The Washington Post'' in 1972, Woodward was teamed up with Carl Bernstein; the two did much of the original news reporting on the Watergate scandal. These scandals led to numerous government investigations and the eventual resignation of President Richard Nixon. Gene Roberts, the former executive editor of ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' and former managing editor of ''The New York Times'', has called the work of Woodward and Bernstein "maybe the single greatest reporting effort of all time."

Early life and career

Woodward was born to Jane (née Upshur) and Alfred Woodward in Geneva, Illinois. He was a resident of Wheaton, Illinois. He enrolled in Yale University with an NROTC scholarship, and studied history and English literature. While at Yale, Woodward joined the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. He received his B.A. degree in 1965, and began a five-year tour of duty in the U.S. Navy. After being discharged as a lieutenant in August, 1970, Woodward considered attending law school but applied for a job as a reporter for The Washington Post, while taking graduate courses at The George Washington University. Harry M. Rosenfeld, the Post's metropolitan editor, gave him a two-week trial but did not hire him because of his lack of journalistic experience. After a year at the Montgomery Sentinel, a weekly newspaper in the Washington, D.C. suburbs, Woodward was hired as a Post reporter in September, 1971.

Woodward has authored or coauthored 15 non-fiction books in the last 35 years. All 15 have been national bestsellers and 11 of them have been #1 national non-fiction bestsellers – more #1 national non-fiction bestsellers than any contemporary author. He has written multiple #1 national non-fiction bestsellers on a wide range of subjects in each of the four decades he has been active as an author, from 1974 to 2009.

In his 1995 memoir ''A Good Life,'' former executive editor of the Post Ben Bradlee singled out Woodward in the foreword. "It would be hard to overestimate the contributions to my newspaper and to my time as editor of that extraordinary reporter, Bob Woodward – surely the best of his generation at investigative reporting, the best I've ever seen. ... And Woodward has maintained the same position on top of journalism's ladder ever since Watergate."

David Gergen, who had worked in the White House during the Richard Nixon and three subsequent administrations said in his 2000 memoir ''Eyewitness to Power'', of Woodward's reporting, "I don't accept everything he writes as gospel – he can get details wrong – but generally, his accounts in both his books and in the Post are remarkably reliable and demand serious attention. I am convinced he writes only what he believes to be true or has been reliably told to be true. And he is certainly a force for keeping the government honest."

Career recognition and awards

Woodward made crucial contributions to two Pulitzer Prizes won by ''The Washington Post''. First he and Bernstein were the lead reporters on Watergate and the ''Post'' won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 1973.

Woodward also was the main reporter for the ''Post'''s coverage of the September 11 attacks in 2001. Ten stories won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting – "six carrying the familiar byline of Bob Woodward," noted the ''New York Times'' article announcing the awards.

He has been a recipient of nearly every other major American journalism award, including the Heywood Broun award (1972), Worth Bingham Prize for Investigative Reporting (1972 and 1986), Sigma Delta Chi Award (1973), George Polk Award (1972), William Allen White Medal (2000), and the Gerald R. Ford Prize for Reporting on the Presidency (2002).

Fred Barnes of the ''Weekly Standard'' called Woodward "the best pure reporter of his generation, perhaps ever." In 2003, Albert Hunt of The Wall Street Journal called Woodward "the most celebrated journalist of our age." In 2004, Bob Schieffer of CBS News said, "Woodward has established himself as the best reporter of our time. He may be the best reporter of all time."

Career

Watergate

Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein were assigned to report on the June 17, 1972 burglary of the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee in a Washington, D.C. office building called Watergate. Their work, under editor Benjamin C. Bradlee, became known for being the first to report on a number of political "dirty tricks" used by the Nixon re-election committee during his campaign for reelection. Their book about the scandal, ''All the President's Men'', became a #1 best-seller and was later turned into a movie. The 1976 film, starring Robert Redford as Woodward and Dustin Hoffman as Bernstein, transformed the reporters into celebrities and inspired a wave of interest in investigative journalism.

The book and movie also led to one of Washington, D.C.'s most famous mysteries: the identity of Woodward's secret Watergate informant known as Deep Throat, a reference to the title of a popular pornographic movie at the time. Woodward said he would protect Deep Throat's identity until the man died or allowed his name to be revealed. For over 30 years, only Woodward, Bernstein, and a handful of others knew the informant's identity until it was claimed by his family to ''Vanity Fair'' magazine to be former Federal Bureau of Investigation Associate Director W. Mark Felt in May 2005. Woodward has confirmed this claim and published a book, titled ''The Secret Man'', which detailed his relationship with Felt.

Woodward and Bernstein followed up with a second successful book on Watergate, entitled ''The Final Days'' (Simon and Schuster 1976), covering in extensive depth the period from November 1973 until President Nixon resigned in August 1974.

The Woodward and Bernstein Watergate Papers are housed at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin.

George W. Bush administration

Woodward spent more time than any other journalist with former President George W. Bush, interviewing him six times for close to eleven hours total. Woodward's four books, ''Bush at War'' (2002), ''Plan of Attack'' (2004), ''State of Denial'' (2006), and ''The War Within: A Secret White House History (2006–2008)'' (2008) are detailed accounts of the Bush presidency, including the response to the September 11 attacks and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. In a series of articles published in January 2002, he and Dan Balz described the events at Camp David in the aftermath of September 11 and discussed the Worldwide Attack Matrix.

Woodward believed the Bush Administration's claims of Iraqi WMDs prior to the war. During an appearance on Larry King Live, he was asked by a telephone caller "Suppose we go to war and go into Iraq and there are no weapons of mass destruction," Woodward responded "I think the chance of that happening is about zero. There's just too much there."

On February 1, 2008, as a part of the Authors @ Google series, Woodward, who was interviewed by Google CEO Eric E. Schmidt, said that he had a fourth book in his Bush at War series in the making. He then added jokingly that his wife told him that she would kill him if he decides to write a fifth in the series.

Involvement in the Plame scandal

On November 14, 2005, Woodward gave a two-hour deposition to Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald. He testified that a senior administration official told him in June 2003 that Iraq war critic Joe Wilson’s wife (later identified as Valerie Plame), worked for the CIA. Woodward appears to have been the first reporter to learn about her employment (albeit not her name) from a government source. The deposition was reported in ''The Washington Post'' on November 16, 2005, and was the first time Woodward revealed publicly that he had any special knowledge about the case. Woodward testified the information was given to him in a “casual” and “offhand” manner, and said that he does not believe it was part of any coordinated effort to “out” Plame as a CIA employee. Later, Woodward's source identified himself. It was Richard Armitage, Colin Powell's deputy and an internal critic of the Iraq War and the White House inner circle.

Woodward said the revelation came at the end of a long, confidential background interview for his 2004 book ''Plan of Attack''. He did not reveal the official’s disclosure at the time because it did not strike him as important. Later, he kept it to himself because it came as part of a confidential conversation with a source.

In his deposition, Woodward also said that he had conversations with Scooter Libby after the June 2003 conversation with his confidential Administration source, and testified that it is possible that he might have asked Libby further questions about Joe Wilson’s wife before her employment at the CIA and her identity were publicly known.

Woodward apologized to Leonard Downie, Jr., the editor of ''The Washington Post'' for not informing him earlier of the June 2003 conversation. Downie accepted the apology and said even had the paper known it would not have changed its reporting.

New York University Professor Jay Rosen severely criticized Woodward for allegedly being co-opted by the Bush White House and also for not telling the truth about his role in the Plame affair, writing: "Not only is Woodward not in the hunt, but he is slowly turning into the hunted. Part of what remains to be uncovered is how Woodward was played by the Bush team, and what they thought they were doing by leaking to him, as well as what he did with the dubious information he got."

Other professional activities

Woodward has continued to write books and report stories for ''The Washington Post,'' and serves as an associate editor at the paper. He focuses on the presidency, intelligence, and Washington institutions such as the U.S. Supreme Court, The Pentagon, and the Federal Reserve. He also wrote the book ''Wired'', about the Hollywood drug culture and the death of comic John Belushi.

Criticism

Criticisms of style

Woodward often uses unnamed sources in his reporting for the Post and in his books. Using extensive interviews with firsthand witnesses, documents, meeting notes, diaries, calendars and other documentation, Woodward attempts to construct a seamless narrative of events, most often told through the eyes of the key participants.

Nicholas von Hoffman has made the criticism that "arrestingly irrelevant detail is [often] used," while Michael Massing believes Woodward's books are "filled with long, at times tedious passages with no evident direction." Christopher Hitchens of Salon.com has dismissed him as a "stenographer to the stars."

Joan Didion has leveled the most comprehensive criticism of Woodward, in a lengthy September 1996 essay in ''The New York Review of Books''. Though "Woodward is a widely trusted reporter, even an American icon," she says that he assembles reams of often irrelevant detail, fails to draw conclusions, and make judgments. "Measurable cerebral activity is virtually absent" from his books after Watergate from 1979 to 1996, she said. She said the books are notable for "a scrupulous passivity, an agreement to cover the story not as it is occurring but as it is presented, which is to say as it is manufactured." She ridicules "fairness" as "a familiar newsroom piety, the excuse in practice for a good deal of autopilot reporting and lazy thinking." All this focus on what people said and thought – their "decent intentions" – circumscribes "possible discussion or speculation," resulting in what she called "political pornography."

The Post's Richard Harwood defended Woodward in a September 6, 1996 column, arguing that Woodward's method is that of a reporter – "talking to people you write about, checking and cross-checking their versions of contemporary history," and collecting documentary evidence in notes, letters and records."

Criticisms of content

Woodward has been accused of exaggeration and fabrication, most notably regarding "Deep Throat", his famous Watergate informant. Even since W. Mark Felt was announced as the true identity behind Deep Throat, John Dean and Ed Gray, in separate publications, have used Woodward's book ''All The President's Men'' and his published notes on his meetings with Deep Throat to show that Deep Throat could not have been only Mark Felt. They argued that Deep Throat was a fictional composite made up of several Woodward sources, only one of whom was Felt. Gray, in his book ''In Nixon's Web'', even goes so far as to publish an e-mail and telephone exchange he had with Donald Santarelli, a Washington lawyer who was a justice department official during Watergate, in which Santarelli confirmed to Gray that he was the source behind statements Woodward recorded in notes he has attributed to Deep Throat.

J. Bradford DeLong has noticed strong inconsistencies between the accounts of the making of Clinton economic policy described both in Woodward's book ''Maestro'' and his book ''The Agenda''.

Some of Woodward's critics accuse him of abandoning critical inquiry to maintain his access to high-profile political actors. Anthony Lewis called the style "a trade in which the great grant access in return for glory." Christopher Hitchens accused Woodward of acting as "stenographer to the rich and powerful."

Woodward believed the Bush Administration's claims of Iraqi WMDs prior to the war, and the publication of the book At the Center of the Storm: My Years at the CIA by former DCI George Tenet led Woodward to engage in a rather tortuous account of the extent of his pre-war conversations with Tenet in an article in ''The New Yorker Magazine'' in which he also chastised ''New York Times'' op-ed columnist Maureen Dowd for being critical of him.

Woodward's dual role as journalist and author has opened him up to occasional criticism for sitting on information for publication in a book, rather than presenting it sooner when it might affect the events at hand. In ''The Commanders'' (1991), for instance, he indicated that Colin Powell had opposed Operation Desert Storm, yet Woodward did not publish this information before Congress voted on a war resolution. And in ''Veil'', he indicates that former CIA Director William J. Casey personally knew of arms sales to the Contras, but he did not reveal this until after the Congressional investigation.

Martin Dardis, the chief investigator for the Dade County State Attorney, who in 1972 discovered that the money found on the Watergate burglars came from the Committee to Re-elect the President, has complained that ''All the President's Men'' misrepresented him.

A review by Anthony Lewis in ''The New York Review of Books'' challenged the claim in ''The Brethren'' (written by Woodward and Scott Armstrong) that Supreme Court Justice William Brennan once voted in a way he thought was wrong to avoid hurting the feelings of Justice Blackmun. Woodward and Armstrong insisted they had one of Brennan's clerks confirm the story on the record; Lewis interviewed everyone who clerked that term; all found the story false or implausible. Woodward showed the notes he'd taken on the subject to a third-party; the notes themselves were unclear but Lewis located the source of the notes who insisted that Woodward misrepresented him.

Woodward was also accused of fabricating his deathbed interview with Casey, as described in ''Veil''; critics say the interview simply could not have taken place as written in the book. Following Casey's death, President Ronald Reagan wrote: "[Woodward]'s a liar and he lied about what Casey is supposed to have thought of me." However, the CIA's own internal report found that Casey spoke to Woodward 43 times, sometimes alone at Casey's home, and his deputy Bob Gates wrote in his own book that he was able to communicate with Casey at that same time and quoted Casey making short statements similar to those reported by Woodward. The author Ronald Kessler reported similar findings in his book on the CIA.

Commentator David Frum has said, perhaps partly tongue-in-cheek, that Washington officials can learn something about the way Washington works from Woodward's books: "From his books, you can draw a composite profile of the powerful Washington player. That person is highly circumspect, highly risk averse, eschews new ideas, flatters his colleagues to their face (while trashing them to Woodward behind their backs), and is always careful to avoid career-threatening confrontation. We all admire heroes, but Woodward's books teach us that those who rise to leadership are precisely those who take care to abjure heroism for themselves."

Despite these criticisms and challenges, Woodward has been praised as an authoritative and balanced journalist. ''The New York Times Book Review'' said in 2004 that "No reporter has more talent for getting Washington’s inside story and telling it cogently."

Lecture circuit

Bob Woodward regularly gives speeches to industry lobbying groups, such as the American Bankruptcy Institute, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, and the Mortgage Bankers Association. Woodward commands speaking fees "rang[ing] from $15,000 to $60,000" and donates them to his personal foundation, the Woodward Walsh Foundation, which donates to charities including Sidwell Friends School. ''Washington Post'' policy prohibits "speaking engagements without permission from department heads" but Woodward insists that the policy is "fuzzy and ambiguous".

Personal

Woodward now lives in the Georgetown section of Washington. He is married to Elsa Walsh, a writer for ''The New Yorker'' and the author of ''Divided Lives: The Public and Private Struggles of Three American Women''. He has two daughters.

Woodward still maintains a listed number in the Washington, D.C. phone directory. He says this is because he wants any potential news source to be able to reach him.

References

Books

Woodward has co-authored or authored twelve #1 national best-selling non-fiction books, They are:

''All the President's Men'' – about the Watergate scandal; (1974) ISBN 0-671-21781-X, 25th Anniversary issue in (1999) ISBN 0-684-86355-3; written with Carl Bernstein

''The Final Days'' – about Nixon's resignation; (1976) ISBN 0-671-22298-8; written with Carl Bernstein

''The Brethren'' – about the Supreme Court in the Warren E. Burger years; (1979) ISBN 0-671-24110-9; written with Scott Armstrong

''Wired'' – on the death of John Belushi and the Hollywood drug culture; (1984) ISBN 0-671-47320-4

''Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA'' – about the CIA's "secret wars" during the reign of William J. Casey; (1987) ISBN 0-671-60117-2

''The Commanders'' – on The Pentagon, the first Bush administration and the Gulf War; (1991) ISBN 0-671-41367-8

''The Agenda'' – about Bill Clinton's first term; (1994) ISBN 0-7432-7407-5

''Shadow'' – on the legacy of Watergate and the scandals that faced later Presidential administrations; (1999) ISBN 0-684-85262-4

''Bush at War'' – about the path to war with Afghanistan following September 11; (2002) ISBN 0-7432-0473-5

''Plan of Attack'' – about how and why President George W. Bush decided to go to war with Iraq; (2004) ISBN 0-7432-5547-X

''State of Denial: Bush at War, Part III'' – which revealed some interesting information about the Bush administration and the War in Iraq. Highly controversial, it appeared on the ''Today'' show just before its release; (2006) ISBN 0-7432-7223-4

''The War Within: A Secret White House History (2006–2008)'' – (2008) ISBN 1-4165-5897-7

''Obama's Wars'' – about the Obama administration's handling of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; Simon & Schuster, (September, 2010). ISBN 9781439172490 (441 pp)

Other books, which have also been best-sellers but not #1, are:

''The Choice'' – about Clinton's re-election bid; (1996) ISBN 0-684-81308-4

''Maestro'' – about Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan; (2000) ISBN 0-7432-0412-3

''The Secret Man'' – about Mark Felt's disclosure, after more than thirty years, that he was Deep Throat. The book was written before Felt admitted his title, as he was sickly and Bob expected that someway or another, it would come out; (2005) ISBN 0-7432-8715-0

''Newsweek'' has excerpted five of Woodward's books in cover stories; ''60 Minutes'' has done segments on five; and three have been made into movies.

Pop culture references

On ''The Simpsons'' episode "Whacking Day", Bart reads a book called ''The Truth About Whacking Day'', written by Bob Woodward.

In the movie ''The Skulls'', the character Will Beckford tries to compare himself to Woodward while reading his column in the school newspaper.

In the movie ''Dick'', which is about Watergate, Woodward is played by actor/comedian Will Ferrell. Woodward and Bernstein are depicted as two bickering, childish near-incompetents, small-mindedly competitive with each other.

In the movie ''Wired'', adapted from Woodward's book ''Wired: The Short Life and Fast Times of John Belushi'', Woodward is portrayed onscreen by J. T. Walsh.

The graphic novel ''Watchmen'' by Alan Moore is set in a version of 1985 where Nixon is a fifth-term president. A throwaway line reveals that a pair of unknown journalists, Woodward and Bernstein, were found murdered in a garage in the early 1970s. This same scenario is used as a dystopian detail in ''Back to the Future 2''. In the episodic video game ''Watchmen: The End is Nigh'', telling about events before the graphic novel, Rorschach and Nite Owl II find Woodward and Bernstein dead in the crime lord Underboss' car's trunk. In the film film based on the series, The Comedian, while shooting at rioters, says, "Ain't had this much fun since Woodward & Bernstein."

Woodward scripted the "Der Roachenkavalier" episode of ''Hill Street Blues'' that aired on February 3, 1987.

In one ''Bloom County'' series, Woodward writes a fictional expose about the late Bill the Cat's "ugly, sordid private life", based entirely on information he got out of Opus the Penguin (although Mickey Mouse and Charlie Brown also appear to have something to do with it). A three-Sunday strip-long mockumenatry based on the Woodward book was used later to explain how Bill came back to life after dying in a car crash.

In "The Long Lead Story", episode 5 of the NBC television series ''Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip'', Matthew Perry's character Matt Albie is talking to reporter Martha O'Dell, played by Christine Lahti. She points to his show board and says, "The Lobster sketch isn't funny yet," to which he replies, "Tell me something else I don't know, Woodward"; a sarcastic jab at O'Dell's decision to report on a sketch-comedy show despite being a Pulitzer Prize-winning political reporter.

In ''The Wire'' episode "React Quotes", a borderline-incompetent journalist is referred to as "not exactly Bob Woodward."

In multiple episodes of ''Gilmore Girls'' they refer to Woodward, Ben Bradlee, Bernstein, and ''All the President's Men''.

In the film ''Assassination of a High School President'', main character ''Bobby Funke'''s style is in inspiration of Woodward & Bernstein

References

External links

Bob Woodward ''official site''

The Clash of Paradigms Articles About Ombudsmanship

Biography at the Washington Post

GQ interview

Ubben Lecture at DePauw University

Watergate Papers Web Exhibition at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin, with inventory

Category:1943 births Category:American investigative journalists Category:American journalists Category:American newspaper reporters and correspondents Category:American political writers Category:Living people Category:People from Washington, D.C. Category:People from Wheaton, Illinois Category:The Washington Post people Category:Watergate figures Category:Worth Bingham Prize recipients Category:Writers from Chicago, Illinois Category:Writers from Washington, D.C. Category:Yale University alumni

ar:بوب ودورد cs:Bob Woodward da:Bob Woodward de:Bob Woodward es:Bob Woodward fr:Bob Woodward id:Bob Woodward it:Bob Woodward he:בוב וודוורד nl:Bob Woodward ja:ボブ・ウッドワード no:Bob Woodward nn:Bob Woodward pl:Bob Woodward pt:Bob Woodward ru:Вудворд, Боб sh:Bob Woodward fi:Bob Woodward sv:Bob Woodward vi:Bob Woodward zh:鲍勃·伍德沃德

Coordinates	40°26′30″N80°00′00″N
Name	Bashar al-Assad بشار الأسد
Office	President of Syria
Primeminister	Muhammad Mustafa MeroMuhammad Naji al-OtariAdel Safar
Vicepresident	Farouk al-SharaaNajah al-Attar
Term start	17 July 2000
Predecessor	Abdul Halim Khaddam (Acting)
Office2	Leader of the Ba'ath Party
Term start2	10 June 2000
Predecessor2	Hafez al-Assad
Birth date	September 11, 1965
Birth place	Damascus, Syria
Party	Ba'ath Party
Spouse	Asma al-Akhras
Alma mater	Damascus University
Profession	Ophthalmologist
Religion	Alawi
Website	The President }}

Bashar al-Assad (, ''''; born 11 September 1965) is the President of Syria and Regional Secretary of the Ba'ath Party. His father Hafez al-Assad ruled Syria for 29 years until his death. Al-Assad was elected in 2000 and 2007, but was unopposed each time.

Early life, education and career

Bashar al-Assad was born in Damascus on 11 September 1965, the son of Aniseh (née Makhluf) and Hafez al-Assad. Initially Bashar had few political aspirations. His father had been grooming Bashar's older brother, Basil al-Assad, as a future president. Bashar studied ophthalmology at Damascus University 1988 and arrived in London in 1992 to continue his studies. He was recalled in 1994 to join the Syrian army after Basil's death in an automobile accident. Bashar entered the military academy at Homs, north of Damascus, following the death of Basil, and was propelled through the ranks to become a colonel in January 1999. The accident made Bashar his father's new heir-apparent.

When the elder Assad died in 2000, Bashar was appointed leader of the Baath-Party and the Army and was elected president unopposed with what the regime claimed to be a massive popular support (97.2% of the votes), after the Majlis Al Sha'ab (Parliament) swiftly voted to lower the minimum age for candidates from 40 to 34 (Assad's age when he was elected). On 27 May 2007 Bashar was approved as president for another seven-year term, with the official result of 97.6% of the votes in a referendum without another candidate.

Assad stands about 189 cm (6 ft 2 in). He speaks English fluently and also speaks casual conversational French, having studied at the Franco-Arab al-Hurriyah school in Damascus, before going on to medical school at the University of Damascus Faculty of Medicine. He completed his ophthalmology residency training in Tishreen Military Hospital of Damascus and subsequently went on to receive sub-specialty training in ophthalmology at the Western Eye Hospital in London. (He did not finish his formal training, due to the unexpected death of his brother.) Bashar was a staff colonel in the Syrian military.

In December 2000, Assad married Asma Assad, née Akhras, a Syrian from Acton (west London) whom he met in the United Kingdom, where she was born and raised. On 3 December 2001, they became the parents of their first-born child, named Hafez after his late grandfather. Zein was born on 5 November 2003, and Karim on 16 December 2004.

Presidency

In his domestic policy, he has been criticized for a disregard for human rights, economic lapses, and corruption. In his foreign policy, Al-Assad is an outspoken critic of the United States and Israel. The Ba'ath Party remains in control of the parliament, and is constitutionally the "leading party" of the state. Until he became president, Bashar al-Assad was not greatly involved in politics; his only public role was head of the Syrian Computer Society, which introduced the Internet to Syria in 2001. Al-Assad was confirmed as president by an unopposed referendum in 2000. He was expected to take a more liberal approach than his father. In an interview he stated that he saw democracy in Syria as 'a tool to a better life' but then argued that it would take time for democracy to come about and that it could not be rushed. Politically and economically, Syrian life has changed only slightly since 2000. Immediately after he took office a reform movement made cautious advances during the Damascus Spring, which led al-Assad to shut down Mezzeh prison and release hundreds of political prisoners. However, security crackdowns commenced again within the year.

Economy

Economic liberalization in Syria has been limited, with industry still heavily state-controlled. However some changes have occurred including the introduction of private banking and the encouragement of foreign involvement, most notably in the oil sector. The need for a diversification of the economy has been pressed for by some as it has been predicted that Syria will change from exporting to having to import oil by 2015. The reliance upon oil is reflected by manufacturing exports representing only 3.1 percent of Syria’s GDP. These issues are especially relevant as Syria’s population is predicted to more than double to over 34 million by 2050. There have been mild economic sanctions (the Syria Accountability Act) applied by the United States which further complicate the situation. Of major importance are the negotiations for a free trade association agreement with the European Union.

Human rights

A 2007 law required internet cafes to record all the comments users post on chat forums. Websites such as Wikipedia Arabic, YouTube and Facebook were blocked intermittently between 2008 and February 2011.

Human Rights groups, such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have detailed how Bashar's regime and secret police routinely torture, imprison, and kill political opponents, and those who speak out against the regime.

Since 2006 it expanded the use of travel bans against dissidents, a practice that is illegal under international law. In that regard, Syria is the worst offender among Arab states.

In an interview with ABC News in 2007 he stated: "We don't have such [things as] political prisoners," yet the ''New York Times'' reported the arrest of 30 political prisoners in Syria in December 2007.

''Foreign Policy'' magazine analyzed his position in the wake of the 2011 protests:

Foreign relations

Assad's first official foreign trip was to meet Jacques Chirac in France, who had warm relations with him. The Middle Eastern Quarterly noted that "As in the case of Iraq, there are lingering questions of Syrian payments to French politicians. Many French politicians join associations and charitable boards both for financial and political gain. The board of the L'Association d'Amitié France-Syrie (France-Syria Friendship Association) boasts among its members former prime minister Raymond Barre, former secretary of state Claude Cheysson, and 2007 presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy".

The United States, European Union, the March 14 Alliance, Israel, and France accuse Assad of logistically supporting militant groups aimed at Israel and any opposing member to his government. These include most political parties other than Hezbollah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad. According to MEMRI, Assad claimed the United States could benefit from the Syrian experience in fighting organizations like the Muslim Brotherhood at the Hama Massacre.

Assad opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq despite a long-standing animosity between the Syrian and Iraqi governments. Assad used Syria's seat in one of rotating positions on the United Nations Security Council to try to prevent the invasion of Iraq. Following the Iraq invasion by coalition forces, Assad was accused of supporting the Iraqi insurgency. A US general accused him of providing funding, logistics, and training to Iraqi and foreign Muslims to launch attacks against U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq.

The February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and the accusation of Syrian involvement and support for anti-Israeli groups, helped precipitate a crisis in relations with the United States. Assad was criticized for Syria's presence in Lebanon which ended in 2005, and the US put Syria under sanctions partly because of this. At Pope John Paul II's funeral in 2005, Assad shook hands with the Israeli president Moshe Katsav.

In the Arab world, Assad mended relations with the Palestine Liberation Organization but relations with many Arab states, in particular Saudi Arabia, have been deteriorating. This is in part due to Assad's continued intervention in Lebanon and his alliance with Iran. Around the time of the 2008 South Ossetia war, Assad made an official visit to Russia. In an interview with the Russian TV channel Vesti, he asserted that one cannot separate the events in the Caucasus from the US presence in Iraq, which he condemned as a direct threat to [Syria's] security."

After the 2005 assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, many media outlets accused Syria of being involved. as Hariri was anti-Syrian. However, Assad argued that Syria's gradual withdrawal of troops from Lebanon, beginning in 2000, was precipitated as a result of the event and ended on may 2005.

In 2011, Assad told the Wall Street Journal that he considered himself "anti-Israel" and "anti-West", and that because of these policies he was not in danger of being overthrown.

Involvement in Lebanon

Despite gaining re-election in 2007, al-Assad’s position was considered by some to have been weakened by the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon following the "Cedar Revolution" in 2005. There has also been pressure from the US concerning claims that Syria is linked to terrorist networks, exacerbated by Syrian condemnation of the assassination of Imad Mughniyeh, Hezbollah military leader, in Damascus in 2008. Interior Minister Bassam Abdul-Majeed stated that, "Syria, which condemns this cowardly terrorist act, expresses condolences to the martyr family and to the Lebanese people.”

Arab-Israeli conflict

In a speech about the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict in August 2006, Bashar al-Assad said that Hezbollah had "hoisted the banner of victory," hailing its actions as a "successful resistance." He claimed that Arab resistance was growing stronger, and warned Israel that "your warplanes, rockets, and your atomic bomb will not protect you in the future." He called Israel an enemy with whom no peace could be achieved as long as they and their allies (especially the U.S.) support the practice of preemptive war. In the same speech, he also called Arab leaders that have criticized Hezbollah "half-men."

In April 2008, Assad told a Qatari newspaper that Syria and Israel had been discussing a peace treaty for a year, with Turkey as a go-between. This was confirmed in May 2008, by a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. As well as a peace treaty, the future of the Golan Heights is being discussed. Assad was quoted in ''The Guardian'' as telling the Qatari paper: :''. . . there would be no direct negotiations with Israel until a new US president takes office. The US was the only party qualified to sponsor any direct talks, [Assad] told the paper, but added that the Bush administration "does not have the vision or will for the peace process. It does not have anything."''

According to leaked American cables, Bashar al Assad called Hamas an "uninvited guest" and said "If you want me to be effective and active, I have to have a relationship with all parties. Hamas is Muslim Brotherhood, but we have to deal with the reality of their presence.", comparing Hamas to the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood which was crushed by his father Hafez al Assad. He then claimed Hamas would disappear if peace was brought to the Middle East.

Assad has indicated that the peace treaty that he envisions would not be the same kind of peace treaty Israel has with Egypt where there is a legal border crossing and open trade. In a 2006 interview with Charlie Rose, Assad said “There is a big difference between talking about a peace treaty and peace. A peace treaty is like a permanent ceasefire. There’s no war, maybe you have an embassy, but you actually won’t have trade, you won’t have normal relations because people will not be sympathetic to this relation as long as they are sympathetic with the Palestinians: half a million who live in Syria and half a million in Lebanon and another few millions in other Arab countries.”

During the visit of Pope John Paul II to Syria in 2001, Bashar al-Assad requested an apology to Muslims for the medieval Crusades and criticized Israeli treatment of Palestinians. Comparing their suffering to that believed to have been endured by Jesus Christ in Palestine, Assad claimed that the Jews "tried to kill the principles of all religions with the same mentality in which they betrayed Jesus Christ and the same way they tried to betray and kill the Prophet Muhammad." Responding to claims that his comment was antisemitic, Assad said that whereas Judaism is a racially heterogeneous religion, the Syrian people are the core of the Semitic race and therefore are opposed to the term ''antisemitism''. When offered to retract his comment implying that the Jews were responsible for Jesus' suffering, Assad replied, "As always, these are historical facts that we cannot deny," and stressed that his remarks were not anti-Jewish. On the other hand, in February 2011 Bashar backed an initiative to restore 10 synagogues in Syria, which had a Jewish community numbering 30,000 in 1947 but has only 200 Jews today.

2011 uprising

Protests in Syria started on 26 January and were influenced by other protests in the region. Protesters have been calling for political reforms and the reinstatement of civil rights, as well as an end to the state of emergency which has been in place since 1963. One attempt at a "day of rage" was set for 4–5 February, though it ended up uneventful. Protests on 18–19 March were the largest to take place in Syria for decades and Syrian authorities have responded with violence against its protesting citizens.

On 18 May 2011, U.S. President Barack Obama signed an Executive order putting into effect sanctions against Bashar Assad in an effort to pressure his regime "to end its use of violence against its people and begin transitioning to a democratic system that protects the rights of the Syrian people." The sanctions effectively freeze any of the Syrian President's assets either in the United States proper or within U.S. jurisdiction. On May 23, 2011 EU Foreign ministers agreed at a meeting in Brussels to add Mr Assad and nine other officials to a list affected by travel bans and asset freezes. On May 24, 2011 Canada imposed sanctions on Syrian leaders, one of which is Assad.

On 20 June 2011, in a speech lasting nearly an hour, in response to the demands of protesters and foreign pressure, al-Assad promised a "national dialogue" involving movement toward reform, new parliamentary elections, and greater freedoms. He also urged refugees to return home from Turkey, while assuring them amnesty and blaming all unrest on a small number of "saboteurs".

In August 2011, Syrian security forces attacked the country's best-known political cartoonist, Ali Farzat, a noted critic of Syria's government and its five-month crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators and dissent. Relatives of the severely beaten humorist told Western media the attackers threatened to break Farzat's bones as a warning for him to stop drawing cartoons of government officials, particularly Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Ferzat, who recently celebrated his 60th birthday, was hospitalized with fractures in both hands and blunt force trauma to the head.

See also

List of state leaders

Cabinet of Syria

Assad family

References

Further reading

''Bashar Al-Assad (Major World Leaders)'' by Susan Muaddi Darraj, (June 2005, Chelsea House Publications) ISBN 0-7910-8262-8 for young adults

''Syria Under Bashar Al-Asad: Modernisation and the Limits of Change'' by Volker Perthes, (2004, Oxford University Press) ISBN 0-19-856750-2 (''Adelphi Papers'' #366)

''Bashar's First Year: From Ophthalmology to a National Vision (Research Memorandum)'' by Yossi Baidatz, (2001, Washington Institute for Near East Policy) ISBN B0006RVLNM

''Syria: Revolution From Above'' by Raymond Hinnebusch (Routledge; 1st edition, August 2002) ISBN 0-415-28568-2

''Bashar al-Assad and John F. Kennedy,'' Forward Magazine (Syria) ''Assad: We too were not very happy with Annapolis,'' Forward Magazine (Syria)

''Seven years of Bashar al-Assad’s rule 2000-2007,'' Forward Magazine (Syria)

External links

Official website

*Biography, decrees, speeches, interviews, press releases

*Transcript of 2010 conversation

Profile at the LookLex Encyclopedia

Unofficial website

Unofficial website with CV, Speeches, Pictures and Mideast Just Peace

;Articles

Syria’s Proxy Forces in Iraq, Al-Hayat (London), 12 April 2003 at Middle East Intelligence Bulletin

Profile: Syria's Bashar al-Assad ''BBC News'', 10 March 2005

Bashar al-Assad's Lebanon Gamble, William Harris, ''Middle East Quarterly'', Summer 2005

Assad on the Brink, David Hirst, ''The Nation'', 21 November 2005

Syria's Leaders, Esther Pan, Council on Foreign Relations, 10 March 2006

Connecting the dots in Lebanon, Omar Raad, Ya Libnan Volunteer, 2 December 2006

The Assad Dynasty in Syria: From Father to Son, Kristin Helberg, ''Deutsche Welle'', 2009 at ''qantara.de''

Interview With Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, ''The Wall Street Journal'', 31 January 2011

Profile: Bashar al-Assad, ''Al Jazeera English'', 25 March 2011

|-

Category:1965 births Category:Arab nationalist heads of state Category:Arab politicians Category:Assad family Category:Ba'ath Party (Syria) politicians Category:Current national leaders Category:Living people Category:Ophthalmologists Category:People from Damascus Category:People of the 2011 Syrian protests Category:Presidents of Syria Category:Syrian Alawites Category:Damascus University alumni

ar:بشار الأسد arc:ܒܫܐܪ ܐܠܐܣܕ az:Bəşər Əsəd bn:বাশার আল-আসাদ bcl:Bashar al-Assad, bg:Башар ал-Асад ca:Bashar al-Assad cs:Bašár al-Asad cy:Bashar al-Assad da:Bashar al-Assad de:Baschar al-Assad et:Bashār al-Asad el:Μπασάρ αλ Άσαντ es:Bashar Al Assad eo:Baŝar al-Asad fa:بشار اسد fr:Bachar el-Assad ga:Bashar al-Assad gl:Bashar al-Assad ko:바샤르 알아사드 hy:Բաշար ալ-Ասադ io:Bashar al-Assad id:Bashar al-Assad it:Bashar al-Asad he:בשאר אל-אסד ku:Beşar el-Ased lv:Bašārs al Asads hu:Bassár el-Aszad mr:बशर अल-अस्साद arz:بشار الاسد ms:Bashar al-Assad nl:Bashar al-Assad ja:バッシャール・アル＝アサド no:Bashar al-Assad nn:Bashar al-Assad oc:Bashar al-Assad pl:Baszar al-Assad pt:Bashar al-Assad ru:Башар аль-Асад sq:Bashar Al Assad scn:Bashar al-Assad sl:Bašar al Asad ckb:بەشار ئەسەد sr:Башар ел Асад fi:Bašar al-Assad sv:Bashar al-Assad ta:பஷர் அல்-அசாத் tr:Beşşar Esed uk:Башар аль-Асад vi:Bashar al-Assad yo:Bashar al-Assad zh:巴沙尔·阿萨德

Coordinates	40°26′30″N80°00′00″N
fullname	Asamoah Gyan
dateofbirth	November 22, 1985
cityofbirth	Accra
countryofbirth	Ghana
height
currentclub	Sunderland AFC | clubnumber 3
position	Striker
years1	2003
years2	2003–2008
years3	2004–2006
years4	2008–2010
years5	2010–
clubs1	Liberty Professionals
clubs2	Udinese
clubs3	→ Modena (loan)
clubs4	Rennes
clubs5	Sunderland
caps1	16
goals1	10
caps2	39
goals2	11
caps3	53
goals3	15
caps4	47
goals4	14
caps5	33
goals5	10
nationalyears1	2003–
nationalteam1	Ghana
nationalcaps1	51
nationalgoals1	25
club-update	19:30, 13 May 2011 (UTC)
nationalteam-update	14:00, 7 June 2011 (UTC) }}

Asamoah Gyan (born 22 November 1985 in Accra, Ghana) is a Ghanian footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Sunderland and the Ghana national team. He shot to prominence at the 2010 FIFA World Cup after scoring 3 goals during the tournament, and missing a penalty in the last minute of extra time in Ghana's quarter-final with Uruguay. He has an obsession with the Number '3', which he believes brings him good fortune (when joining his current club Sunderland he took squad number '33', as '3' was already taken by Kieran Richardson, however Gyan has been given '3' for the 2011/12 season). Gyan has also featured in music videos and songs under the alias of 'Baby Jet'.

Club career

Udinese

Having signed for Udinese in 2003 from Ghanaian club Liberty Professionals located in his hometown of Accra, Gyan spent two years on loan at Serie B club Modena to gain match experience. Following some excellent displays during the 2006 World Cup, he attracted interest from Russian club Lokomotiv Moscow. Gyan returned to Udinese at the start of 2006, but on 17 February 2007, Udinese pulled out of a deal to sell him in the January transfer window. The striker was on the verge of signing a 3-year deal with Russian Club Lokomotiv Moscow for US$10.5m, the fourth largest transfer fee in Russian football history. "The striker Udinese targeted to replace me did not sign for them," Gyan told BBC Sport. "I've been told I will now have to stay in Italy for the rest of the season."

On 10 August 2007, along with Fabio Quagliarella, Gyan signed an improved 5-year contract extension to stay at Udinese until 30 June 2012 as a reward for his fine form in the 2007–08 pre-season. "I have decided to stay here because it is one of the top leagues in the world," Asamoah said, "There is the possibility of me playing regular football here to make me a better player. "I am comfortable with the new deal and I know I can help Udinese achieve great things for the future". Asamoah and Quagliarella marked their contract extensions with a brace each in Udinese's 7–0 friendly win later that evening.

Gyan was also linked with moves to Manchester United, Arsenal and AC Milan. On 29 July 2007 following his impressive pre-season form, including a hat-trick in a friendly against Serie B outfit Spezia on 25 July, before Udinese sealed the long term deal. Gyan scored 10 goals in 2006–07 to help the Stadio Friuli club finish in 10th place in Serie A.

Gyan was dogged by injury during the 2007–08 season and never appeared for Udinese again after January 2008, having played only 13 Serie A matches and scored 4 times that season.

Rennes

On 11 July 2008, Asamoah was signed by French Ligue 1 Club Stade Rennais for 4 years on an €8 million transfer fee. Gyan played 48 times for Rennes, scoring 14 goals. By the end of his stay at Rennes, he became a well known goal scoring figure, scoring 13 league goals in the 2009-10 season. However, Asamoah Gyan only played two games in Ligue 1 the following season, taking his total appearances to 50, before he departed for Sunderland.

Sunderland

On 31 August 2010, Gyan signed for Premier League club Sunderland on a four-year deal. The fee was approximately £13 million, breaking the club's previous transfer fee record, which was paid to Tottenham Hotspur for striker Darren Bent. Gyan was later given the number 33 shirt at Sunderland. He scored on his Sunderland debut against Wigan Athletic on 11 September after coming on as a substitute for Danny Welbeck. The match ended in a 1–1 draw with Antolín Alcaraz scoring Wigan's equaliser. He marked his first start for Sunderland by netting their only goal in their League Cup exit at the hands of West Ham United. Gyan scored twice on his first Premier League start for the club in a 2–0 win against Stoke City on 6 November. His first goal came in the 9th minute when a Nedum Onuoha shot was parried by goalkeeper Asmir Begović, with Gyan on hand to tap home the rebound and his second came in the 86th minute, to secure a 2–0 victory for the ''Black Cats''. Three days later, he followed this up by scoring the equaliser against Tottenham at White Hart Lane in a 1–1 draw as Sunderland moved up to seventh in the table. He also scored a goal in Sunderland's 3–0 victory at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea. Gyan scored Sunderland's third goal in their 3–0 victory over Blackburn Rovers on 1 January 2011. On 16 January 2011, he started against local rivals Newcastle United, scoring a 94th minute equaliser, preventing Newcastle gaining their second win of the season against Sunderland. Gyan added to his impressive goalscoring tally with a goal away at Stoke City on 5 February 2011. He scored an 11th minute goal against Tottenham on 12 February 2011. Gyan's next goal came on April 23 as Sunderland beat Wigan Athletic 4-2, a match which ended prematurely for the forward as he was substituted following a hamstring injury which is expected to see him miss the remainder of the season. Gyan did recover in time to feature in Sunderland's last game of the season at West Ham but didn't add to his tally finishing his first season in English football with 10 league goals. Gyan took the number 3 shirt for the 2011/12 season, the same number he wears for Ghana.

International career

Asamoah Gyan made his international debut at the age of 17. Gyan scored on his senior International debut for Ghana against Somalia on 19 November 2003 in the 90th minute, he came on for Isaac Boakye in the 62nd minute in a 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifier, three days before he turned 18 years; helping Ghana to win that game, and making him the youngest ever player to score for Ghana. He scored four times in seven matches during that successful World Cup qualifying campaign.

He was part of the 2004 Ghana Olympic squad, who exited in the first round, having finished in third place in Group B.

He also scored the fastest goal of the 2006 World Cup after 68 seconds. The strike was also Ghana's first ever goal in the World Cup, coming in the game against the Czech Republic on 17 June at the RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne, Germany, which set the ''Black Stars'' on their way to a 2–0 victory. He missed a penalty later in the game, and received a yellow card ruling him out of the final group game for trying to take the penalty too early. In Ghana's defeat to Brazil in the Round of 16, he was sent off in the 81st minute after collecting his second booking of the match (for diving).

On 24 January 2008 during the Africa Cup of Nations Gyan and his brother Baffour decided to walk out on the Black Stars following criticism after their unconvincing 1–0 win over Namibia. The media learnt the brothers had packed their bags and were ready to leave the team hotel but were persuaded to stay by team-mates. In the 2010 African Cup of Nations, Asamoah Gyan helped a Ghana team, ravaged by injuries to the finals. Gyan scored three out of the four Ghana goals during the tournament.

Gyan scored with a penalty in the 85th minute of Ghana's first match of the 2010 World Cup against Serbia, in a 1–0 win. He hit the post in the 92nd minute before being substituted to a standing ovation just before the final whistle. In Ghana's second game, he scored a penalty in the 26th minute to level the scores and earn his team a 1–1 draw against Australia.

In the round of 16 match against the USA, he scored a goal in extra time allowing Ghana to win by a score of 2 to 1 and hence become the third African team in history to qualify to the tournament's quarter final, after Cameroon and Senegal. In the quarter final tie against Uruguay, following Luis Suárez's handling of the ball on the goal-line, he missed a penalty kick with no time remaining at end of extra time, hitting the crossbar and necessitating a penalty shootout to decide the game. He converted his penalty in the subsequent penalty shootout, but Uruguay went on to win the shootout 4–2. Gyan scored Ghana's equaliser against England at Wembley in the international friendly on 29 March 2011.

In total, Gyan has scored 26 times in 48 appearances for Ghana.

International goals

{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible collapsed" border="1" style="float:center; border:1px; font-size:90%; margin-left:1em;" ! Goal !! Date !! Venue !! Opponent !! Score !! Result !! Competition |- | 1. || 19 November 2003 || Ohene Djan Stadium, Ghana || || 2–0 || 2–0 || 2006 World Cup qualification |- | 2. || 25 June 2004 || Maputo, Mozambique || || 1–0 || 1–0 || Friendly |- | 3. || 3 July 2004 || National Stadium, Uganda || || 1–1 || 1–1 || 2006 World Cup qualification |- | 4. || 23 March 2005 || Nairobi, Kenya || || 1–0 || 2–2 || Friendly |- | 5. || 27 March 2005 || Stade des Martyrs, Democratic Republic of the Congo || || 1–0 || 1–1 || 2006 World Cup qualification |- | 6. || 8 October 2005 || Estádio da Várzea, Cape Verde Islands || || 3–0 || 4–0 || 2006 World Cup qualification |- | 7. ||rowspan="2"| 14 November 2005 ||rowspan="2"| King Fahd International Stadium, Saudi Arabia ||rowspan="2"| || 2–1 ||rowspan="2"| 3–1 ||rowspan="2"| Friendly |- | 8. || 3–1 |- | 9. || 4 June 2006 || Easter Road Stadium, Scotland || || 1–0 || 3–1 || Friendly |- | 10. || 17 June 2006 || RheinEnergieStadion, Germany || || 1–0 || 2–0 || 2006 World Cup |- | 11. ||rowspan="2"| 8 October 2006 ||rowspan="2"| Seoul World Cup Stadium, South Korea ||rowspan="2"| || 1–0 ||rowspan="2"| 3–1 ||rowspan="2"| Friendly |- | 12. || 3–1 |- | 13. || 21 August 2007 || London, England || || 1–0 || 1–1 || Friendly |- | 14. || 20 January 2008 || Ohene Djan Stadium, Ghana || || 1–0 || 2–1 || 2008 Africa Cup of Nations |- | 15. ||rowspan="2"| 9 September 2009 ||rowspan="2"| Stadion Galgenwaard, Netherlands ||rowspan="2"| || 1–0 ||rowspan="2"| 3–4 ||rowspan="2"| Friendly |- | 16. || 2–0 |- | 17. || 15 January 2010 || |Estádio Nacional do Chiazi, Angola || || 1–3 || 1–3 || 2010 Africa Cup of Nations |- | 18. || 24 January 2010 || Estádio 11 de Novembro, Angola || || 1–0 || 1–0 || 2010 Africa Cup of Nations |- | 19. || 28 January 2010 || Estádio 11 de Novembro, Angola || || 1–0 || 1–0 || 2010 Africa Cup of Nations |- | 20. || 1 June 2010 || De Kuip, Netherlands || || 1–2 || 1–4 || Friendly |- | 21. || 13 June 2010 || Loftus Versfeld Stadium, South Africa || || 1–0 || 1–0 || 2010 World Cup |- | 22. || 19 June 2010 || Royal Bafokeng Stadium, South Africa || || 1–1 || 1–1 || 2010 World Cup |- | 23. || 26 June 2010 || Royal Bafokeng Stadium, South Africa || || 2–1 || 2–1 || 2010 World Cup |- | 24. || 29 March 2011 || Wembley Stadium, London || || 1–1 || 1–1 || Friendly |- | 25. || 7 June 2011 || Jeonju World Cup Stadium, South Korea || || 1–1 || 1–2 || Friendly |- | colspan="12"|''Correct as of 7 June 2011'' |}

Career statistics

10

Club	Season	League	FA Cup	League Cup	Europe	Other	Total
!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals
rowspan="1" valign="center"	Sunderland		31	|	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	33	10

Personal life

Gyan's brother, Baffour Gyan, currently plays in Ghana for Asante Kotoko.

He is the best player in Ghana, aside from Michael Essien. Gyan had a tragic past. In summer 2010, Gyan recorded and released a Ghanaian Hiplife song with Castro The Destroyer, where he features under the alias 'Baby Jet'. The song is entitled "African Girls" and was launched unto the ghanaian screens despite the fact that Gyan's music was interfereing with his soccer carreer. The video shows his famous 'Asamoah Gyan Dance' celebration which he demonstrated at the 2010 World Cup and at Sunderland. The song won an award at the Ghana Music awards in 2011.

Titles and honours

Ghana

Africa Cup of Nations Silver medal: 2010

Africa Cup of Nations Bronze medal: 2008

Individual

2010 Africa Cup of Nations Best XI

Man of the Match in 2010 World Cup (2): vs. Australia, vs. Serbia

FIFA Ballon d'Or: Shortlist Nominee (Top 23 players in the World)

BBC African Footballer of the Year:2010 He latest song also with Castro has also become a hit, the song is called 'Do da Dance'

References

External links

Asamoah Gyan career stats Soccerbase

Serie A 2006/07 – Gyan ASAMOAH Gazzetta dello Sport

Asamoah Gyan profile ESPN Soccernet

Premier League profile

Category:1985 births Category:People from Accra Category:Living people Category:Ghanaian footballers Category:Ghana international footballers Category:Association football forwards Category:Olympic footballers of Ghana Category:Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Category:2006 FIFA World Cup players Category:2010 FIFA World Cup players Category:2008 Africa Cup of Nations players Category:2010 Africa Cup of Nations players Category:Udinese Calcio players Category:Modena F.C. players Category:Stade Rennais F.C. players Category:Sunderland A.F.C. players Category:Serie A footballers Category:Ghanaian expatriates in Italy Category:Ligue 1 players Category:Premier League players Category:Expatriate footballers in Italy Category:Ghanaian expatriates in France Category:Expatriate footballers in France Category:Ghanaian expatriate footballers Category:Liberty Professionals F.C. players

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Coordinates	40°26′30″N80°00′00″N
Name	Chris Christie
Order	55th
Office	Governor of New Jersey
Lieutenant	Kim Guadagno
Term start	January 19, 2010
Predecessor	Jon Corzine
Office2	United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey
Nominator2	George W. Bush
Term start2	January 17, 2002
Term end2	December 1, 2008
Predecessor2	Robert Cleary
Successor2	Ralph Marra (Acting)
Birthname	Christopher James Christie
Birth date	September 06, 1962
Birth place	Newark, New Jersey
Party	Republican Party
Spouse	Mary Pat Foster
Residence	Mendham
Alma mater	University of DelawareSeton Hall University
Religion	Christian (Catholic)
Signature	Chris Christie Signature.svg }}

Christopher James "Chris" Christie (born September 6, 1962) is the 55th and current Governor of New Jersey. Upon his election to the governorship in November 2009, Christie became the first Republican to win a statewide election in New Jersey in 12 years. Christie, an attorney, previously served as United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey.

Early life and family

Chris Christie was born in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Bill Christie and Sondra Grasso Christie. He was raised in Livingston, graduating from Livingston High School. Christie graduated from the University of Delaware with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science in 1984 and Seton Hall University School of Law with a Juris Doctor degree in 1987. Christie was admitted to the Bar of the State of New Jersey and the Bar of the United States District Court, District of New Jersey, in December 1987.

In 1986, Christie married Mary Pat Foster, a fellow student at the University of Delaware. After marriage they shared a one-room apartment in Summit, New Jersey. Mary Pat Christie pursued a career in investment banking, eventually working at the Wall Street firm Cantor Fitzgerald. She left the firm in 2001 following the September 11th attacks, only recently returning to work part-time. They have four children, Andrew (born 1993), Sarah (born 1996), Patrick (born 2000), and Bridget (born 2003). Christie and his family reside in Mendham Township.

Christie is of Irish and Sicilian descent.

Early career

Lawyer

In 1987, Christie joined the law firm of Dughi, Hewit & Palatucci of Cranford, New Jersey. In 1993, he was named a partner in the firm. Christie specialized in securities law, appellate practice, election law, and government affairs. He is a member of the American Bar Association and the New Jersey State Bar Association and was a member of the Election Law Committee of the New Jersey State Bar Association.

Morris County Freeholder

Christie, at the time a resident of Mendham, was in 1994 elected as a Republican to the Morris County, New Jersey, Board of Chosen Freeholders, with Christie and a running mate having defeated incumbent freeholders in the party primary. After that election, the defeated incumbents filed defamation lawsuits against Christie based on statements made during the primary campaign. Christie had incorrectly stated that the incumbents were under investigation for violating certain local laws. The lawsuit was settled out of court.

As freeholder, Christie required the county government to obtain three quotes from all qualified firms for all contracts. He led a successful effort to bar county officials from accepting gifts from people and firms doing business with the county. He voted to raise the county's open space tax for land preservation; however, county taxes on the whole were decreased by 6.6% during his tenure. He successfully pushed for the dismissal of an architect hired to design a new jail, saying that the architect was costing taxpayers too much money. The architect then sued Christie for defamation over remarks he made about the dismissal.

In 1995, Christie announced a bid for a seat in the New Jersey General Assembly; he and attorney Rick Merkt ran as a ticket against incumbent Assemblyman Anthony Bucco and attorney Michael Patrick Carroll in the Republican primary. Bucco and Carroll, the establishment candidates, defeated the up-and-comers by a wide margin. After this loss, Christie's bid for re-nomination to the freeholder board was unlikely, as unhappy Republicans recruited John J. Murphy to run against Christie in 1997. Murphy defeated Christie in the primary. Murphy, who had falsely accused Christie of having the county pay his legal bills in the architect's lawsuit, was sued by Christie after the election. They settled out of court; nevertheless, Christie's career in Morris County politics was over by 1998.

Lobbyist

In 1998 Christie registered as a lobbyist for the firm of Dughi, Hewit & Palatucci, alongside fellow partner and later, gubernatorial campaign fundraiser Bill Palatucci. Between 1999 and 2001, Christie and Palatucci lobbied on behalf of, among others, GPU Energy for deregulation of New Jersey's electric and gas industry; the Securities Industry Association to block the inclusion of securities fraud under the state's Consumer Fraud Act; Hackensack University Medical Center for state grants, and the University of Phoenix for a New Jersey higher education license.

United States Attorney

Christie served as the chief federal law enforcement officer in New Jersey from January 17, 2002 to December 1, 2008. His office included 137 attorneys, with offices in Newark, Trenton and Camden. Christie also served as one of the 17 U.S. Attorneys on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' advisory committee.

Appointment

On December 7, 2001, Christie was nominated to be the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey. He was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on December 20, 2001, and sworn into office on January 17, 2002.

Controversy surrounded his appointment; some members of the New Jersey Bar professed disappointment at Christie's lack of criminal law experience and his history as a top fundraiser for George W. Bush's 2000 presidential campaign. The extent of the role played by Bush's political adviser, Karl Rove, also became an issue after Christie's law partner, William Palatucci, a Republican political consultant and Bush supporter, boasted that he had selected a United States attorney by forwarding Christie's résumé to Rove.

Christie has stated that his distant familial connection to Tino Fiumara never came up during his Federal Bureau of Investigation background check for his position as a U.S. Attorney; he told ''The New York Times'' in 2009 that he had assumed that investigators were aware of the connection. During his tenure as U.S. Attorney, Christie recused himself from his office's investigation, indictment, and prosecution of Fiumara for aiding the flight of a fugitive.

Achievements

Despite the initial misgivings over his degree of experience, Christie received praise for his history of convictions for public corruption. During his tenure, Christie's office won convictions or guilty pleas from 130 public officials, both Republican and Democratic, on the state, county and local levels without losing a single case. The most notable of these convictions included those of Hudson County Executive Robert C. Janiszewski in 2002 on bribery charges, Essex County Executive James W. Treffinger in 2003 on corruption charges, former New Jersey Senate President John A. Lynch, Jr. in 2006 on charges of mail fraud and tax evasion, State Senator and former Newark mayor Sharpe James in 2008 on fraud charges, and State Senator Wayne R. Bryant in 2008 on charges of bribery, mail fraud, and wire fraud.

Claims of misuse of deferred prosecution agreements

Christie has been accused of using his office's role in crafting deferred prosecution agreements to award lucrative federal monitoring positions in no-bid contracts to friends, supporters, and allies. Questions first arose after Christie awarded a multimillion dollar, no-bid contract to David Kelley, another former U.S. Attorney, who had investigated Christie's brother, Todd Christie, in a 2005 fraud case involving traders at the Wall Street firm, Spear, Leeds & Kellogg. Kelley had declined to prosecute Todd Christie, who had been ranked fourth in the investigation-initiating U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) complaint among twenty traders who earned the largest profits for their company at the expense of their customers. The top three were indicted, as were eleven other traders.

Christie was similarly criticized for his 2007 recommendation of the appointment of The Ashcroft Group, a consulting firm owned by Christie's former superior, the former United States Attorney General John Ashcroft, as a monitor in a court settlement against Zimmer Holdings, an Indiana medical supplies company. The no-bid contract was worth between $28 million and $52 million. Christie defended the decision, saying that Ashcroft’s prominence and legal acumen made him a natural choice. Christie declined to intercede when Zimmer's company lawyers protested the Group’s plans to charge a rate of $1.5 million to $2.9 million per month for the monitoring. Shortly after the House Judiciary Committee began holding hearings on the matter, the Justice Department re-wrote the rules regarding the appointment of court monitors.

Christie also faced criticism over the terms of a $311 million fraud settlement with Bristol-Myers Squibb. Christie’s office deferred criminal prosecution of the pharmaceutical company in a deal that required it to dedicate $5 million for a business ethics chair at Seton Hall University School of Law, Christie's alma mater. The U.S. Justice Department subsequently set guidelines forbidding such requirements as components of out-of-court corporate crime settlements.

In June 2009, Christie was called before the House Judiciary Committee as part of its consideration of new regulations on deferred prosecution agreements. In his testimony, he defended his decisions to award no-bid, high-paying federal monitoring contracts to law firms that his critics say constitute a conflict of interest. Christie left the meeting after two and a half hours of questioning, against the requests of the Committee's chairman, stating that he had to attend to pressing business in New Jersey.

Claims of partisan attacks

Christie has been criticized for subpoenaing Senator Robert Menendez during his contested 2006 campaign, just two months before the election. Christie's aides have insisted that they initiated the action in response to an article that appeared in ''The Record'', which reported that in 1994, when Menendez was a U.S. Representative, he had leased his former home to a social service agency that he had helped obtain federal financing. The non-profit group paid Menendez more than $300,000 over nine years to rent the building. Menendez claims to have cleared the arrangement with the Congressional ethics office, a step that had also been reported previously by New Jersey newspapers. According to Menendez, just prior to signing the rental lease, he cleared it by phone with a lawyer on the staff of the United States House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. Following the subpoena, the lawyer, who no longer works with the Committee, came forward to say that while she doesn’t recall the conversation, it probably happened—and that if she were advising Menendez now she would tell him, as she apparently did then, that there was nothing improper about the arrangement. As of August 2009, nothing has come from the investigation.

Cell phone monitoring and alleged entrapment

In 2005, Christie prosecuted the Hemant Lakhani terrorism case, in which the defendant claimed that he had been entrapped. In that case, Christie's office relied on an informant who had been dismissed by the FBI as unreliable for fabricating claims of terrorist activity. For more than a year, the informant, working with the U.S. attorney's office, solicited Lakhani for access to arms. Lakhani was unable to obtain anything until an undercover agent contacted him and supplied him with a fake missile. In an interview with the public radio program "This American Life," Christie brushed off suggestions that Lakhani was entrapped by law enforcement, defending the Lakhani prosecution.

In April 2009, Christie came under fire from the ACLU for authorizing warrantless cellphone tracking of people in 79 instances. Christie has stressed that the practice was legal and court approved.

Governor of New Jersey

Christie filed as a candidate for the office of Governor on January 8, 2009. In the primary on June 2, Christie won the Republican nomination with 55% of the vote, defeating conservative opponents Steve Lonegan and Rick Merkt. He then chose Kimberly Guadagno, Monmouth County sheriff, to complete his campaign ticket as a candidate for lieutenant governor. On November 3, Christie defeated Corzine by a margin of 48.5% to 44.9%, with 5.8% of the vote going to independent candidate Chris Daggett.

Christie took office as Governor of New Jersey on January 19, 2010. He chose not to move his family into Drumthwacket, the official governor's mansion, and instead resides in Mendham, New Jersey.

Accomplishments

On February 9, 2010, he signed Executive Order No. 12, which placed a 90-day freeze on the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) and established the Housing Opportunity Task Force to examine the State's affordable housing laws, constitutional obligations, and the effectiveness of the current framework.

On February 11, 2010, Christie signed Executive Order No. 14, which declared a "state of fiscal emergency exists in the State of New Jersey" due to the projected $2.2 billion budget deficit for the current fiscal year (FY 2010). In a speech before a special joint session of the New Jersey Legislature on the same day, Christie addressed the budget deficit and revealed a list of fiscal solutions to close the gap. Christie also suspended funding for the Department of the Public Advocate and called for its elimination. Some Democrats criticized Christie for not first consulting them on his budget cuts and for circumventing the Legislature's role in the budget process. In late June 2011, Christie utilized New Jersey's line item veto to eliminate nearly $1 billion from the proposed budget, signing it into law just hours prior to the July 1, 2011, beginning of the state's fiscal year.

On August 25, 2010, it was announced that New Jersey had lost out on $400 million in federal Race to the Top education grants due to a clerical error in the application by an unidentified mid-level state official. In response to the decision, Christie criticized the Obama administration for the decision on the grounds that it was an example of bureaucracy gone wrong and that the administration failed to communicate with the New Jersey government. However, information later came to light that the issue was raised with Christie's Education Commissioner Bret Schundler, and in response Governor Christie asked for Schundler's resignation. Schundler initially agreed to resign, but the following morning asked to be fired instead, citing his need to claim unemployment benefits. Schundler maintains that he told Christie the truth, and that Christie is misstating what actually occurred. The New Jersey Education Association rebuked Christie by suggesting that his rejection of a compromise worked out by Schundler with the teachers' union on May 27 was to blame.

References

External links

Office of the Governor ''official state site''

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Category:1962 births Category:American people of Sicilian descent Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American people of Italian descent Category:Governors of New Jersey Category:Living people Category:New Jersey County Freeholders Category:New Jersey lawyers Category:New Jersey Republicans Category:People from Livingston, New Jersey Category:People from Morris County, New Jersey Category:Republican Party state governors of the United States Category:Seton Hall University School of Law alumni Category:United States Attorneys for the District of New Jersey Category:University of Delaware alumni

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