All articles starting with S
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Special Air Service
The Special Air Service (SAS) is the British Army special forces regiment founded by David Stirling in July 1941 for desert raids, re-formed as 22 SAS in 1952, famous for the 1980 Iranian Embassy siege.
Special Air Service Regiment
The Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) is the Australian Army special forces unit raised in 1957, expanded to a regiment in 1964, which served in Borneo, Vietnam, East Timor, Afghanistan and Iraq and was the focus of the 2020 Brereton inquiry.
Special Atomic Demolition Munition
The Special Atomic Demolition Munition (SADM) was a man-portable US nuclear backpack weapon built around the W54 warhead, carried by trained soldiers and deployed from 1964 to 1989.
Special Boat Service
The Special Boat Service (SBS) is the Royal Navy's maritime special forces unit within UK Special Forces, formed in 1940 as the Special Boat Section, specialising in littoral operations alongside the SAS.
Special Branch
Special Branch: police intelligence units, originating in London's Metropolitan Police in 1883 to counter Irish republican terrorism, later spread across the Commonwealth; Met unit ended 2006.
Special Broadcasting Service
The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is Australia's multicultural, multilingual national public broadcaster, founded on 1975 experimental ethnic radio stations 2EA and 3EA, established in 1978, with television from 1980 and services in over 60 languages.
Special Bulletin
Special Bulletin (1983) is an NBC television drama directed by Edward Zwick and written by Marshall Herskovitz, a simulated live newscast of nuclear terrorism in Charleston, S.C.; it won four Emmys.
Special Committee on Decolonization
The Special Committee on Decolonization (C-24, Committee of 24) is a UN General Assembly subsidiary organ, established 1961 by resolution 1654 (XVI), monitoring implementation of the 1960 Declaration on decolonization across the 17 remaining Non-Self-Governing Territories.
Special Conference on Defence
The Special Conference on Defence (Особое совещание по обороне) was a Russian state body, established by Nicholas II in August 1915, that directed the empire's World War I war economy.
Special Conference on State Defense
The Special Conference on State Defense (Особое совещание по государственной обороне) was a Russian body chaired by the War Minister, supervising defense industry and army supply from 1915.
Special Correspondents
Special Correspondents is a 2016 Netflix comedy written and directed by Ricky Gervais, starring Eric Bana, a remake of Envoyés très spéciaux about radio journalists faking Ecuador war reports from Queens; released April 29, 2016, poorly reviewed.
Special Council (Osoboye Soveshchaniye)
The Special Council (Особое совещание, OSO) was a Soviet extrajudicial body of the security organs that sentenced defendants to imprisonment, exile, or death without trial from 1922 until its abolition in 1953.
Special Council of the NKVD
The Special Council of the NKVD (Особое совещание при НКВД) was a Soviet extrajudicial sentencing panel, created in 1934, that could exile, imprison, or execute people without trial.
Special Councils for Defense, Fuel, Food, Transport (1915)
The Special Councils for Defense, Fuel, Food, and Transport (Особые совещания 1915 года) were Russian Empire state institutions created in August 1915 to direct the World War I war economy.
Special Court for Sierra Leone
The Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) was a UN–Sierra Leone treaty-based hybrid tribunal, signed 16 January 2002, trying those bearing greatest responsibility for civil war crimes since 30 November 1996; four cases, nine convictions, closed December 2013.
Special Data Dissemination Standard
The Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) is a voluntary standard the IMF established in 1996 prescribing how member countries publish economic and financial statistics, created after the Mexican financial crisis.
Special degree for repeat candidates (tefengming)
Tefengming (特奏名) was a Song dynasty privilege granting degrees to candidates who had failed the civil examinations repeatedly, beginning with a grant of 106 degrees in 970.
Special drawing rights
The special drawing right (SDR) is an interest-bearing international reserve asset created by the IMF in 1969; it is not a currency but a potential claim on members' currencies.
Special economic zone
A special economic zone (SEZ), or enterprise area, is a designated area where governments attract industry with tax incentives, distinct regulations, and infrastructure; over 6,000 zones exist worldwide.
Special economic zones of China
China's special economic zones are delineated areas where investors receive preferential tax, customs, and land treatment; the original four, at Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Shantou, and Xiamen, date to 1980.
Special education
Special education is specially designed instruction, at no cost to parents, for children with disabilities, guaranteed in the US by IDEA through FAPE, IEPs, and least restrictive environment, and shaped internationally by the 1994 Salamanca Statement on inclusive education.
Special effect
Special effect: an illusion created live or on camera, beyond ordinary scenery or lighting. Covers theatre classifications (mechanical, pyrotechnical, electrical), Shakespearean and Victorian stagecraft, early cinema, fog safety, and modern projection and tracking systems.
Special elections to the United States House of Representatives, 1789–1860
Special elections to the United States House of Representatives, 1789–1860, filled vacancies from death, resignation, or withdrawal by writ of election under Article I, with no temporary appointments allowed.
Special elections to the United States House of Representatives, 1861–1959
Special elections to the United States House of Representatives, 1861–1959, filled House seats vacated by death, resignation, or other causes, with states setting the timing.
Special flood hazard area
A special flood hazard area (SFHA) is land subject to the 1-percent-annual-chance base flood, designated by FEMA, where flood insurance is mandatory for federally backed mortgages.
Special forces
Special forces, more broadly special operations forces, are elite military units for unconventional warfare, special reconnaissance, and counterterrorism; the concept emerged in WWII commando units and includes the British SAS and US Army Special Forces.
Special forces of India
Special forces of India: the Army's Para SF, Navy's MARCOS (1987), Air Force's Garud Commando Force, plus NSG and Special Frontier Force, unified under the tri-service AFSOD.
Special Forces Support Group
The Special Forces Support Group (SFSG) is a British Armed Forces special-forces unit formed 3 April 2006, built around 1st Battalion Parachute Regiment with Royal Marines and RAF Regiment elements, providing infantry support, quick reaction, and counter-terrorism support to UKSF operations.
Special Forces Tab
Special Forces Tab, the U.S. Army "long tab," a permanent shoulder tab awarded by USAJFKSWC to Special Forces Qualification Course graduates; approved 17 June 1983, teal blue and yellow, worn above the SSI.
Special Forces: World's Toughest Test
Special Forces: World's Toughest Test is a Fox reality series (premiered January 4, 2023), adapted from SAS: Who Dares Wins, putting celebrities through ex-Special Forces-led selection challenges with no formal eliminations.