Geography.

The market town of Azrou is located at a strategic crossroads of the N13 and N8 roads towards the northern end of the Middle Atlas. The N13 road connects Azrou to Meknes in the north west and Midelt in the south east. The National Route N8 comes from Fes in the north east and continues to Khenifra and then Marrakech in the south west.  Azrou is at an altitude of 1250 m and surrounded by mountains covered with evergreen holm oak and cedar.  The Cèdre Gouraud Forest is located to the south east, where one of the sub-populations of the Barbary macaque, "Macaca sylvanus" (called "magots") is found. In addition to its rich biodiversity symbolized by the famous cedar forest there are the butterflies which are unique in the world. The surroundings of Azrou are a centre of attraction for the residents, hikers, and picnickers of the large neighbouring towns. These surroundings are also home to the 'Cedre Gouraud' or 'Grand Cedar', a famous tourist attraction. This place is also famous due to the macaque apes that live in the area and are drawn by tourist activity. Moreover, the Azrou forest provides an excellent hiking and exercising environment and also holds several summer camps for children. Azrou urban construction is in the European style (red tile roofs).  The region is also known for its cherry trees, apple trees, fish farms, and the abandoned sanatorium in the surrounding metropolitan area of Ben Smim.

Toponymy.

"Azrou" is a geomorphological name taken from the landform of a large rock outcrop (Aẓro, ⴰⵥⵔⵓ, means "rock" or "stone" in the Berber language Tamazight) in the centre of the city.

History.

The first record of Azrou village in history in a letter sent by Fernão Taveira to king Emmaniel the 1st of Portugal.  Azrou is mostly known for hosting the first high school in the Berber region: the Berber high school of Azrou (now the Tarik Ibn Ziad School). It was built by the French colonial authorities in order to train Moroccans for the colonial administration. It was one of the instruments for the implementation of a Berber Dhahir, which changed the justice system in areas where Amazigh languages were predominantly spoken, excluding these areas from Sharia and the authority of the Makhzen that applied to the rest of Morocco, and implementing a new legal system ostensibly in accordance with Amazigh laws and customs written in French.  The college became an educational institution in the reference area, forming part of the political and military elites from 1956 to 1973, after independence, the college was renamed Azrou Tarik Ibn Ziad High School.  The town was long neglected by the Moroccan authorities since independence in 1956 to the detriment of the nearby town of Ifrane. Although it is the true capital of the Middle Atlas and a town that has given Morocco many leaders and intellectuals, the town still does not officially rank as provincial capital, although it is in practice.  The town has several hotels.

Twinning.

The city has signed a protocol of cooperation with Blois in July 2011

Azrou (Berber: Aẓro, ⴰⵥⵔⵓ, Arabic: أزرو) is a Moroccan town 89 kilometres south of Fez in Ifrane Province of the Fès-Meknès region.


Range.

The genus is native to the Old World, with the species concentrated around the equatorial regions - eastern and southeastern Asia including the Philippines with 10 species (9 of which are endemic), eastern Africa (including Madagascar), northern Australia, Polynesia, and Micronesia. Australia has 26 species, while the Indo-Chinese area has about 30. India has 9 species. The northernmost species ("C. revoluta") is found at 31°N in southern Japan. The southernmost ("C. megacarpa") is found at 26°S in southeast Queensland. Due to the occurrence of large number of "Cycas" species in China, Australia and India, those countries are considered as centres of "Cycas" diversity.

Evolution.

The earliest fossils of the genus "Cycas" appear in the Cenozoic although "Cycas"-like fossils that may belong to Cycadaceae extend well into the Mesozoic. "Cycas" is not closely related to other genera of cycads, and phylogenetic studies have shown that Cycadaceae is the sister-group to all other extant cycads. "Cycas" is thought to retain a number of ancestral characters that have been modified in the other cycads (Stangeriaceae and Zamiaceae): in particular, the ovulate ('female') cone has very large ovules attached to megasporophylls that are held in a lax rosette rather than in the tight cone found in other cycads.

Morphology.

The plants are dioecious, and the family Cycadaceae is unique among the cycads in not forming seed cones on female plants, but rather a group of leaf-like structures called megasporophylls each with seeds on the lower margins, and pollen cones or strobilus on male individuals.  The caudex is cylindrical, surrounded by the persistent petiole bases. Most species form distinct branched or unbranched trunks but in some species the main trunk can be subterranean with the leaf crown appearing to arise directly from the ground. There are two types of leaves - foliage leaves and scaly leaves. The foliage leaves are pinnate (or more rarely bipinnate) and arranged spirally, with thick and hard keratinose. They are not permanent and fall off leaving back leaf-bases. The leaflets are articulated, have midrib but lack secondary veins. The scaly leaves are persistent, brown in colour and protective in function. Megasporophylls are not gathered in cones. Pollination takes place by air.

Reproduction.

The plant takes several years to grow, sexual reproduction takes place after 10 years of exclusive vegetative growth which occurs by bulbils arising at the base of the trunk.

Conservation status.

"Cycas" species are threatened worldwide and almost all the species are listed in IUCN Redlist. "Cycas beddomei" is the only species of the genus "Cycas" listed in Appendix I of CITES. "Cycas rumphii" and "Cycas pectinata" have the most widespread distribution.

Cycas is a genus of plants belonging to a very ancient lineage, the Cycadophyta, which are not closely related to palms. ferns, trees or any other modern group of plants. They are evergreen perennials which achieved their maximum diversity in the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, when they were distributed almost worldwide. At the end of the Cretaceous, when the non-avian dinosaurs became extinct, so did most of the cycas in the Northern Hemisphere.


Distribution.

The species has a wide distribution in Europe and Asia, from Portugal and Ireland in the west, Finland in the north to Italy in the south, and eastwards to Korea and Japan. In the UK, records suggest that while occasionally found further North before 1970, it is now found mostly south of The Wash, in East Anglia and Southern England, with a few colonies found in Ireland.

Physiology and behavior.

To communicate alarm, the species has been known to dispense Dendrolasin (C15H22O), a Terpenoid compound, from their mandibular glands.  The species is closely related to the Nitidulid beetle "Amphotis marginata", called the "highwayman" of the local ant world. The beetles occupy shelters along the foraging trails of "L. fuliginosis". When night comes, they patrol the trails and take food from the ants returning to the nest. They specifically target those ants with a lot of food in their bodies. They trick ants into regurgitating into their mouths, a common act between ants and other animals called "trophallaxis". The ants soon realize they have been tricked and begin to fight the beetle. The beetle responds by removing itself from the ants' mouths and flattening its body to the ground in a way that ants cannot roll them over and effectively combat them.

Environment.

The species builds a "cardboard" nest in old hollow trees, using "board" – a mixture of chewed wood with saliva. A nest contains only one queen, but a large colony can contain as many as 15,000 workers.  Like other black ants they tend populations of aphids for their honeydew, and can often be seen travelling in both directions, following scent-trails for long distances to their source of food, which is often a tree. The trails the species make to forage and transport food commonly last for months. As the workers clear the paths of vegetation and debris, making the path easy for massive amounts of ants to travel efficiently. They rarely carry other insects back to the nest.

Reproduction as a hyperparasite.

While other black ants such as "Lasius niger", the smaller but much more common (in the UK) species, a queen founds its own nest by laying eggs and then feeding the new larvae with a fluid produced by breaking down its own muscles; a process that leaves her terrible weak as she cannot tend the larvae and forage for food at the same time. A post-nuptial queen of "Lasius fuliginosus" cannot found her own nests, but establishes a nest through social parasitism in another species of the same genus - "Lasius umbratus", a rare yellow ant with an underground habit (unlike the common yellow ant "Lasius flavus" which makes small mounds in grass and lawns). She kills or ousts the existing queen and lays eggs, which the existing workers tend. Her offspring workers then slowly take over the nest. "Lasius umbratis" also establishes its nest in a similar way, by taking over the nest of "Lasius niger", the common black ant, so "Lasius fuliginosus" is sometimes referred to as a hyperparasite.

Lasius fuliginosus, also known as the jet ant or jet black ant, is a species of ant in the subfamily Formicinae. Workers have a black shiny colour and a length of about 4–6 mm, females are larger (6–6.5 mm) and small males reach a length of 4.5–5 mm). The head is heart-shaped.


Profile.

Garou began playing the guitar at the age of three at the encouragement of his father (he also plays piano and trumpet). He went on to serve in the military and started a band in 1992 called the Untouchables. In 1997, he was discovered by Luc Plamondon while singing American blues tunes in a Sherbrooke bar. He was drafted by Plamondon to play the role of Quasimodo in his musical Notre-Dame de Paris, which made him a star in France.  His first album "Seul" became the best-selling French album of 2001 and remains one of the best-selling French albums of all time, achieving 2 million sales in Europe and going three times platinum in Canada.  He continued his string of hits with a "live album" and his sophomore effort "Reviens" in 2003. Sales for his third album "Garou" remained strong and he released his English crossover "Piece of My Soul" in 2008. The album debuted at No. 2 in Canada and No. 3 in France. Despite this, the album became his first album in France not to reach platinum status although it became his best-selling album in North America in seven years. His next album, "Gentleman cambrioleur" features cover songs in French and English and became his first album to miss the top five in France, where it modestly peaked at No. 35, staying on the charts for 17 weeks. He released "Version Intégrale" in 2010 which became another Top 40 hit in France and Canada.  Garou performed the Jean-Pierre Ferland song "Un peu plus haut, un peu plus loin" (A Little Higher, A Little Farther) at the 2010 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Vancouver, British Columbia. He has also performed at the charity event Les Enfoirés for the past 19 years.  His latest effort "Rhythm and Blues" became his highest peaking album in four years. It is his second covers album and pays tribute to classic R&B music.  He hosted the first two editions of "Destination Eurovision", the selection show to choose the French entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, for France 2.

Collaborations.

Garou has become well known for his collaborations. He has worked with Luc Plamondon in Notre-dame de Paris. The single "Belle" was lifted from the musical and stayed atop the French charts for a record-breaking 18 weeks. The single remained the most successful song in French history until 2009. In 2000, he had a successful duet with Celine Dion. "Sous le vent" became his third number one single in France. In 2004 he worked with Michel Sardou for his fourth and final No. 1 single, "La Rivière de notre enfance". The following year he appeared with 15-year-old singer Marilou on "Tu es comme ça."  He has also worked with several popular songwriters, including Jean-Jacques Goldman and Pascal Obispo. For his first album in English, Garou collaborated with some of the biggest names in music. The single "Stand Up" was written by Rob Thomas. He also sang the song "First Day of My Life", which was a big hit all over Europe in 2006 for former Spice Girl Melanie C, written by Guy Chambers and Enrique Iglesias.

Personal life.

Garou has a daughter named Emelie, with his ex-girlfriend, Ulrika, a former model. After they broke up he dated a former Yemeni singer and entertainer Arwa Jassem known as Lahlouba. From 2007 to June 2010 he dated French singer Lorie.  Garou is a member of the Les Enfoirés charity ensemble since 1999.

Pierre Garand (born 26 June 1972), known by his stage name Garou (a diminutive of his last name "Garand"), is a Canadian singer and actor from Sherbrooke, Québec.


Formation.

Clay minerals typically form over long periods as a result of the gradual chemical weathering of rocks, usually silicate-bearing, by low concentrations of carbonic acid and other diluted solvents. These solvents, usually acidic, migrate through the weathering rock after leaching through upper weathered layers. In addition to the weathering process, some clay minerals are formed through hydrothermal activity. There are two types of clay deposits: primary and secondary. Primary clays form as residual deposits in soil and remain at the site of formation. Secondary clays are clays that have been transported from their original location by water erosion and deposited in a new sedimentary deposit. Clay deposits are typically associated with very low energy depositional environments such as large lakes and marine basins.

Grouping.

Depending on the academic source, there are three or four main groups of clays: kaolinite, montmorillonite-smectite, illite, and chlorite. Chlorites are not always considered to be a clay, sometimes being classified as a separate group within the phyllosilicates. There are approximately 30 different types of "pure" clays in these categories, but most "natural" clay deposits are mixtures of these different types, along with other weathered minerals.  Varve (or "varved clay") is clay with visible annual layers, which are formed by seasonal deposition of those layers and are marked by differences in erosion and organic content. This type of deposit is common in former glacial lakes. When fine sediments are delivered into the calm waters of these glacial lake basins away from the shoreline, they settle to the lake bed. The resulting seasonal layering is preserved in an even distribution of clay sediment banding.  Quick clay is a unique type of marine clay indigenous to the glaciated terrains of Norway, Canada, Northern Ireland, and Sweden. It is a highly sensitive clay, prone to liquefaction, which has been involved in several deadly landslides.

Identification.

X-ray diffraction.

Powder X-ray diffraction can be used to identify clays.

Chemical.

The physical and reactive chemical properties can be used to help elucidate the composition of clays.

Historical and modern uses.

Clays exhibit plasticity when mixed with water in certain proportions. However, when dry, clay becomes firm, and when fired in a kiln, permanent physical and chemical changes occur. These changes convert the clay into a ceramic material. Because of these properties, clay is used for making pottery, both utilitarian and decorative, and construction products, such as bricks, walls, and floor tiles. Different types of clay, when used with different minerals and firing conditions, are used to produce earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain. Prehistoric humans discovered the useful properties of clay. Some of the earliest pottery shards recovered are from central Honshu, Japan. They are associated with the Jōmon culture, and recovered deposits have been dated to around 14,000 BC. Cooking pots, art objects, dishware, smoking pipes, and even musical instruments such as the ocarina can all be shaped from clay before being fired.  Clay tablets were the first known writing medium. Scribes wrote by inscribing them with cuneiform script using a blunt reed called a stylus. Purpose-made clay balls were used as sling ammunition. Clay is used in many industrial processes, such as paper making, cement production, and chemical filtering. Until the late 20th century, bentonite clay was widely used as a mold binder in the manufacture of sand castings.  Clay, being relatively impermeable to water, is also used where natural seals are needed, such as in the cores of dams, or as a barrier in landfills against toxic seepage (lining the landfill, preferably in combination with geotextiles). Studies in the early 21st century have investigated clay's absorption capacities in various applications, such as the removal of heavy metals from waste water and air purification.

Medical use.

Traditional uses of clay as medicine goes back to prehistoric times. An example is Armenian bole, which is used to soothe an upset stomach. Some animals such as parrots and pigs ingest clay for similar reasons. Kaolin clay and attapulgite have been used as anti-diarrheal medicines.

As a building material.

Clay as the defining ingredient of loam is one of the oldest building materials on Earth, among other ancient, naturally-occurring geologic materials such as stone and organic materials like wood. Between one-half and two-thirds of the world's population, in both traditional societies as well as developed countries, still live or work in buildings made with clay, often baked into brick, as an essential part of its load-bearing structure. Also a primary ingredient in many natural building techniques, clay is used to create adobe, cob, cordwood, and rammed earth structures and building elements such as wattle and daub, clay plaster, clay render case, clay floors and clay paints and ceramic building material. Clay was used as a mortar in brick chimneys and stone walls where protected from water.

Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material that contains hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates (clay minerals) that develops plasticity when wet. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure. Clays are plastic due to particle size and geometry as well as water content, and become hard, brittle and non–plastic upon drying or firing. Depending on the soil's content in which it is found, clay can appear in various colours from white to dull grey or brown to deep orange-red.


Football career.

As a youth, Pinto played for Bairro do Falcão (where he was born, in Campanhã, Porto's east side) and Águias da Areosa FC, and once tried to join FC Porto's youth system – refused, he moved to Boavista F.C. instead. As a child, he impressed with his speed and ball control, and was subsequently one of the brightest stars in Portugal's wins in the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Riyadh and Lisbon, being one of three players ever to have been on the winning side in this competition twice, along with goalkeeper Fernando Brassard (whom however did not play in the first tournament) and Argentinian Sergio Agüero; additionally, he made his Primeira Liga debut at only 17.  Pinto's performance in the first youth competition earned him a transfer to Atlético Madrid in 1990, but he was placed instead with the club's B-team. After a forgettable season he rejoined Boavista, played every game, scored eight goals and helped his team win the 1992 Portuguese Cup, in a final against city rivals Porto; shortly after, he signed with S.L. Benfica.  Whilst with Benfica, Pinto's career was threatened in late 1992 by a collapsed lung during an international match for Portugal in Scotland for the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifiers– he did recover, but was unable to help the team win the title. However, in the next season, he played arguably his best football there, his best moment coming in the Lisbon derby against Sporting CP, where he scored three goals and was on the play of the remaining three in a 6–3 win at the Estádio José Alvalade; this result proved to be decisive for the club's clinching of the 1994 national championship.  Dubbed "The Golden Boy", Pinto won club captaincy from veteran António Veloso after the latter's retirement in 1995, but was unable to win a national title again. Arguably, the lack of quality of a poorly managed Benfica side played a part in his lack of development after 1995, as he was considered as the main talent of the Portuguese squad alongside playmaker Rui Costa. Finally, after a wage dispute with president João Vale e Azevedo, he was released from contract weeks before the UEFA Euro 2000 (making him the only free-agent in the competition), where he helped the national team reach the semi-finals after scoring eight goals during the qualifying stage: on 13 June 2000, he netted through a header against England for a 3–2 group stage win, after a two-goal disadvantage; he was also selected for Euro 1996.  After the end of the tournament Pinto had several offers from abroad, and after almost signing with Porto he settled for Sporting instead, agreeing to a four-year deal. After a relatively poor season in 2000–01, the "Lions" hired four-time Portuguese Golden Boot winner Mário Jardel, and Pinto returned to his golden years in a magnificent run which ended with the conquest of his second title; named the "father of the team" by the Brazilian, he played all but one game and scored nine goals.  Although a highly talented player, Pinto was also known for a series of red cards for aggression and bad tackles – his feud with Porto player and national teammate Paulinho Santos lasted for years, and both players would be frequently sent off after hitting each other. Other incidents that stirred some controversy included one case of aggression against a fireman during the half-time break and elbowing a C.F. Estrela da Amadora player during a practice match.  The lowest point, however, was when Pinto hit Argentine referee Ángel Sánchez (in the third group stage game, against South Korea, at the 2002 World Cup), who had sent him off after a bad tackle early in the match. He was suspended for six months, eventually missing six Portuguese League matches and two international matches for Portugal.  Pinto ended his Portugal career with 81 caps, 23 goals, and appearances in Euro 1996, Euro 2000 and the 2002 World Cup. Never recovering fully from the incident at the latter tournament, he failed to impress in the following seasons, when Sporting failed to reach the top two spots, and in 2004 he was released from contract, returning to Boavista. Although he was close to signing with Al-Hilal FC of Saudi Arabia in the January transfer window, he remained with his first professional club.  After a second season carrying Boavista's squad (who almost qualified for UEFA Cup, with him scoring nine league goals and receiving numerous Player of the match awards), Pinto accepted the invitation of S.C. Braga's board in July 2006, signing for one year. He netted twice in 24 appearances in an eventual fourth-place finish for the Minho side, and extended his contract for the 2007–08 campaign; however, during February 2008, he trained with Toronto FC of Major League Soccer and, late into that month, announced the termination of his contract at Braga, retiring shortly after at nearly 37 years of age.  Subsequently, Pinto worked with the Portuguese Football Federation in directorial capacities.

Personal life.

Still in his teens, Pinto had two children from his first marriage to Carla Baía. The elder, Tiago, first played professionally with C.D. Olivais e Moscavide; in 2008 he married television presenter Marisa Cruz, with the couple divorcing five years later.  Pinto's younger brother, Sérgio, was also a footballer, having played almost exclusively in the lower leagues of Portugal and one year in England.

Honours.

Club.

Boavista  Benfica  Sporting

International.

Portugal

João Manuel Vieira Pinto (; born 19 August 1971) is a Portuguese retired professional footballer who played mostly as a forward.


Plot summary.

The novel is actually a story within a story. The boy, Daniel Sempere, in his quest to discover Julián's other works, becomes involved in tracing the entire history of Carax. His friend, who goes by the alias of Fermín Romero de Torres, was imprisoned and tortured in Montjuïc Castle as a result of his involvement in espionage against the government during the Civil War. He helps Daniel in a number of ways, but their probing into the murky past of a number of people who have been either long dead or long forgotten unleashes the dark forces of the murderous Inspector Fumero.  Thus, unravelling a long story that has been buried in the depths of oblivion, Daniel and Fermín come across a love story, the beautiful yet tragic story of Julián and Penélope, both of whom seem to have been missing since 1919—that is, nearly thirty years earlier. Julián, who was the son of the hatter Antoni Fortuny and his wife Sophie Carax (but preferred to use his mother's last name), and Penélope Aldaya, the only daughter of the extremely wealthy Don Ricardo Aldaya and his beautiful, narcissistic American wife, developed an instant love for each other and lived a clandestine relationship only through casual furtive glances and faint smiles for around four years, after which they decided to elope to Paris, unaware that the shadows of misfortune had been closing in on them ever since they had met. The two lovers are doomed to unknown fates just a week before their supposed elopement, which is meticulously planned by Julián's best friend, Miquel Moliner—also the son of a wealthy father, who had earned much during the war, including a bad reputation for selling ammunition. It is eventually revealed that Miquel loved Julián more than any brother and finally sacrificed his own life for him, having already abandoned his desires and his youth for causes of charity and his friend's well-being after his elopement to Paris -- although without Penélope, who never turned up for the rendezvous.  Penélope's memory keeps burning in Julián's heart, and this eventually forces him to return to Barcelona (in the mid 1930s); however he encounters the harsh truth about Penélope, nothing more than a memory to those who knew her since she had never been seen or heard of again by anyone after 1919. Daniel discovers, from the note Nuria Monfort left for him, that Julián and Penélope are actually half-brother and sister; her father had an affair with his mother and Julián was the result. The worst thing he learns is that after Julián left, Penélope's parents imprisoned her because they were ashamed of her committing incest with him and she was pregnant with his child. Penélope gave birth to a son named David Aldaya, who was stillborn. Penélope died in childbirth, due to her parents' ignoring her cries for help, and her body was placed in the family crypt along with her child's. When returning to the Aldaya Mansion, Julián is enraged and embittered by the news of his love's death along with their child's. He hates every wasted second of his life without Penélope and hates his books all the more. He begins to burn all of his novels and calls himself Lain Coubert.  After finishing reading the book, Daniel marries Beatriz "Bea" Aguilar, whom he has loved for a long time, in 1956. Soon after, Bea gives birth to a son. Daniel names his son Julián Sempere, in honor of Julián Carax. In 1966, Daniel takes Julián to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, where "The Shadow of the Wind" is kept.

Critical reception.

The novel received positive to mixed reviews from literary critics. Stephen King wrote, "If you thought the true gothic novel died with the 19th century, this will change your mind. Shadow is the real deal." "Entertainment Weekly" assigned the book a grade of A, describing the book as "wondrous" and noting that "there are places in which the book might seem a little over-the-top (doomed love, gruesome murders) but for Zafon's masterful, meticulous plotting and extraordinary control over language". "The Guardian" considered that "Zafón's novel is atmospheric, beguiling and thoroughly readable, but ultimately lacks the magic its early chapters promise".

The Shadow of the Wind () is a 2001 novel by the Spanish writer Carlos Ruiz Zafón and a worldwide bestseller. The book was translated into English in 2004 by Lucia Graves and sold over a million copies in the UK after already achieving success on mainland Europe, topping the Spanish bestseller lists for weeks. It was published in the United States by Penguin Books and in Great Britain by Weidenfeld & Nicolson and Orion Books. It is believed to have sold 15 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling books of all time.


Biology.

It is a large bird with black feathers and a red head. Its total length is about and a wingspan of about. The subspecies "A. l. purpureicollis" from the northern Cape York Peninsula is smaller than the more widespread nominate subspecies. It has a prominent, fan-like tail flattened sideways, and its plumage is mainly blackish, but with a bare red head, and a yellow (in the nominate subspecies) or purple wattle (in "A. l. purpureicollis"). The males' wattles become much larger during breeding season, often swinging from side to side as they run. The males' heads and wattles also become much brighter during the breeding and nesting season. The underside of the body is sprinkled with white feathers, more pronounced in older birds. The brushturkey is a clumsy flyer and cannot fly long distances, only taking to the air when threatened by predators or to roost in trees at night and during the heat of the day.  They build large nests on the ground made of leaves, other compostable material, and earth, high and up to across. Mound-building is done by a dominant male, and visited by a succession of local females, for mating and egg-laying. The male works tirelessly, collecting material from all around, and also diligently repelling rival males, which are keen to usurp his position. The effort involved eventually wears him down, and he will ultimately be defeated by a new king. The eggs are very large (90 × 45 mm), and the young are fully fledged on hatching. They can fly within hours, as soon as the feathers are dry. The eggs are hatched by the heat of the composting mound, the temperature of which is regulated by adding or removing material to maintain the temperature in the incubation temperature range. The Australian brushturkey checks the temperature by sticking its beak into the mound. Like some reptiles, incubation temperature affects the sex ratio of chicks, but the mechanism is different between reptiles and these birds, with reptiles exhibiting temperature-dependent sex determination, and megapodes exhibiting temperature-dependent embryo mortality. The sex ratio in brushturkeys is equal at incubation temperatures of 34°C, but results in more males when cooler and more females when warmer (p=0.035). Whether the parents use this to manipulate the sex of their offspring by, for instance, selecting the nesting site accordingly, is unclear. Warmer incubation also results in heavier, fitter chicks (p<0.0001), but how this is linked to gender is also unknown.  The same nesting site is frequently used year after year, with the old nests being added to each breeding season. The average clutch of eggs is between 16 and 24 large white eggs, which are laid September to March. Sometimes, up to 50 eggs laid by several females may be found in a single mound. The eggs are placed in a circle roughly down, apart, always with the large end up. The newly hatched young dig themselves out of the mound and then have to care for themselves.  Brushturkey eggs are a favourite food of goannas, snakes, and dingoes and dogs, though brushturkeys were also a staple of Aboriginal Australians. Often, goannas exhibit wounds on their tails from having been pecked by brushturkeys that ferociously chase them away from their nests.  In situations where they come into contact with humans, such as picnic areas in national parks and suburban gardens, brushturkeys exhibit little fear and often boldly attempt to steal food from tables and raid compost bins. They nest in suburban gardens, and in search of material for their nests remove enormous amounts of mulch from gardens.

Habitat.

The Australian brushturkey inhabits rainforests and wet sclerophyll forests, but can also be found in drier scrubs and open areas. In the northern part of its range, the Australian brushturkey is most common at higher altitudes, but individuals move to the lowland areas in winter. In the south, it is common in both mountain and lowland regions.  Brushturkeys are now common in urban environments and can be found in backyards in both Brisbane and Sydney.

Population.

Brushturkeys are fairly common presently, but in the 1930s, the bird was supposed to be approaching extinction.

Feeding.

Brushturkeys feed upon insects, seeds, and fallen fruits, which are exposed by raking the leaf litter or breaking open rotten logs with their large feet. The majority of food is obtained from the ground, with birds occasionally observed feeding on ripening fruits among tree branches.

Human interaction.

The Australian brushturkey can damage gardens when raking up the ground looking for food. It can also cause extensive damage to food crops. The Department of Environment, Climate Change, and Water provides hints for living with brushturkeys in urban environments.  They are sometimes hunted for food, including as part of the diet by traditional Aboriginal Australians. Their eggs, which weigh on average, are also sometimes eaten.  The Australian brush-turkey is fully protected in Queensland. Management of its natural habitat and respect for the bird is important if the brush-turkey is to continue to have a secure future. Under the Nature Conservation Act 1992, it is an offence to harm brush turkeys. For a class 1 offence it is 3000 penalty units or 2 years imprisonment. For a class 4 offence it is 100 penalty units or $13,345.00 Au.  In New South Wales, shooting a brush turkey has resulted in fines of up to $22,000 under the Biodiversity Conservation Act.

The Australian brushturkey or Australian brush-turkey or gweela ("Alectura lathami"), also frequently called the scrub turkey or bush turkey, is a common, widespread species of mound-building bird from the family Megapodiidae found in eastern Australia from Far North Queensland to Eurobodalla on the south coast of New South Wales. The Australian brushturkey has also been introduced to Kangaroo Island in South Australia. It is the largest extant representative of the family Megapodiidae, and is one of three species to inhabit Australia.


Early life.

Arkhipov was born into a peasant family in the town of Staraya Kupavna, near Moscow. He was educated in the and participated in the Soviet–Japanese War in August 1945, serving aboard a minesweeper. He transferred to the Caspian Higher Naval School and graduated in 1947.

Early career.

After graduating in 1947, Arkhipov served in the submarine service aboard boats in the Black Sea, Northern and Baltic Fleets.

"K-19" accident.

In July 1961, Arkhipov was appointed deputy commander and therefore executive officer of the new ballistic missile submarine "K-19". After a few days of conducting exercises off the south-east coast of Greenland, the submarine developed an extreme leak in its reactor coolant system. This leak led to failure of the cooling system. Radio communications were also affected, and the crew was unable to make contact with Moscow. With no backup systems, Commander Zateyev ordered the seven members of the engineer crew to come up with a solution to avoid nuclear meltdown. This required the men to work in high radiation levels for extended periods. They eventually came up with a secondary coolant system and were able to keep the reactor from a meltdown. Although they were able to save themselves from a nuclear meltdown, the entire crew, including Arkhipov, were irradiated. All members of the engineer crew and their divisional officer died within a month due to the high levels of radiation they were exposed to. Over the course of two years, fifteen more sailors died from the after-effects.

Involvement in Cuban Missile Crisis.

On 27 October 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, a group of eleven United States Navy destroyers and the aircraft carrier located the diesel-powered, nuclear-armed near Cuba. Despite being in international waters, the Americans started dropping signaling depth charges, explosives intended to force the submarine to come to the surface for identification. There had been no contact from Moscow for a number of days and, although the submarine's crew had earlier been picking up U.S. civilian radio broadcasts, once "B-59" began attempting to hide from its U.S. Navy pursuers, it was too deep to monitor any radio traffic. Those on board did not know whether war had broken out or not. The captain of the submarine, Valentin Grigorievitch Savitsky, decided that a war might already have started and wanted to launch a nuclear torpedo.  Unlike the other subs in the flotilla, three officers on board "B-59" had to agree unanimously to authorize a nuclear launch: Captain Savitsky, the political officer Ivan Semonovich Maslennikov, and the flotilla commodore (and executive officer of B-59) Arkhipov. Typically, Russian submarines armed with the "Special Weapon" only required the captain to get authorization from the political officer to launch a nuclear torpedo, but due to Arkhipov's position as Commodore, "B-59"s captain also was required to gain Arkhipov's approval. An argument broke out, with only Arkhipov against the launch.  Even though Arkhipov was second-in-command of the submarine "B-59", he was in fact Commodore of the entire submarine flotilla, including "B-4", "B-36" and "B-130". According to author Edward Wilson, the reputation Arkhipov had gained from his courageous conduct in the previous year's "K-19" incident also helped him prevail. Arkhipov eventually persuaded Savitsky to surface and await orders from Moscow. This effectively averted the general nuclear war which probably would have ensued if the nuclear weapon had been fired. The submarine's batteries had run very low and the air-conditioning had failed, causing extreme heat and high levels of carbon dioxide inside the submarine. They were forced to surface amid the American pursuers and return to the Soviet Union as a result.

Aftermath.

Immediately upon return to Russia, many crew members were faced with disgrace from their superiors. One admiral told them "It would have been better if you'd gone down with your ship." Olga, Arkhipov's wife, even said "he didn't like talking about it, he felt they hadn't appreciated what they had gone through." Each captain was required to present a report of events during the mission to the Soviet defense minister, Andrei Grechko. Grechko was infuriated with the crew's failure to follow the strict orders of secrecy after finding out they had been discovered by the Americans. One officer even noted Grechko's reaction, stating that he "upon learning that it was the diesel submarines that went to Cuba, removed his glasses and hit them against the table in fury, breaking them into small pieces and abruptly leaving the room after that."  In 2002, retired Commander Vadim Pavlovich Orlov, a participant in the events, held a press conference revealing the subs were armed with nuclear torpedoes and that Arkhipov was the reason those devices had not been fired. Orlov presented the events less dramatically, saying that Captain Savitsky lost his temper, but eventually calmed down.  When discussing the Cuban Missile Crisis in 2002, Robert McNamara, the U.S. Secretary of Defense at the time, stated, "We came very close" to nuclear war, "closer than we knew at the time." Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., an advisor for the John F. Kennedy administration and a historian, continued this thought by stating "This was not only the most dangerous moment of the Cold War. It was the most dangerous moment in human history."

Later life and death.

Arkhipov continued in Soviet Navy service, commanding submarines and later submarine squadrons. He was promoted to rear admiral in 1975, and became head of the Kirov Naval Academy. Arkhipov was promoted to vice admiral in 1981 and retired in the mid-1980s.  He subsequently settled in Kupavna (which was incorporated into Zheleznodorozhny, Moscow Oblast, in 2004), where he died on 19 August 1998. The radiation to which Arkhipov had been exposed in 1961 may have contributed to his kidney cancer, like many others who served with him in the "K-19" accident.  Nikolai Vladimirovich Zateyev, the commander of the submarine "K-19" at the time of its onboard nuclear accident, died nine days later, on 28 August 1998. Both Arkhipov and Zateyev were 72 at the time of their deaths.

Personal life.

Family.

Vasili Arkhipov was married to Olga Arkhipova until his death in 1998. They had a daughter named Yelena.

Character.

Arkhipov was known to be a shy and humble man. In a PBS documentary titled "The Man Who Saved the World", his wife described him as intelligent, polite and very calm. Much of what is known about his personality comes from her. According to her, he enjoyed searching for newspapers during their vacations and tried to stay up-to-date with the modern world as much as possible. In this same interview, Olga alludes to her husband's possible superstitious beliefs as well. She recalls walking in on Vasili burning a bundle of their love letters inside their house, claiming that keeping the letters would mean "bad luck".

In popular culture.

The "K-19" accident was the basis for the 2002 film, "".  The 4th track on the 2017 album "The Dusk in Us" by mathcore band Converge is titled "Arkhipov Calm" and is based on his Cuban missile crisis decision.

Awards and honors.

In recognition of his actions onboard B-59, Arkhipov received the first "Future of Life Award," which was presented posthumously to his family in 2017. Offered by the Future of Life Institute, this award recognizes exceptional measures, often performed despite personal risk and without obvious reward, to safeguard the collective future of humanity.

Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov (, 30 January 1926 – 19 August 1998) was a Soviet Navy officer credited with preventing a Soviet nuclear strike (and, presumably, all-out nuclear war) during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Such an attack likely would have caused a major global thermonuclear response.


Early life and education.

Born in Cadegliano-Viconago, Italy, near Lake Maggiore and the Swiss border, Menotti was the sixth of eight children of Alfonso and Ines Menotti, his father being a coffee merchant. Menotti began writing songs when he was seven years old, and at eleven wrote both the libretto and music for his first opera, "The Death of Pierrot". He began his formal musical training at the Milan Conservatory in 1923.  Following her husband's death, Ines Menotti went to Colombia in a futile attempt to salvage the family's coffee business. She took Gian Carlo with her, and in 1928 she enrolled him at Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music, but she returned to Italy. Armed with a letter of introduction from the wife of Arturo Toscanini, Gian Carlo studied composition at Curtis under Rosario Scalero. Fellow students at Curtis included Leonard Bernstein and Samuel Barber.  Barber became Menotti's partner in life and in work, with Menotti crafting the libretto for Barber's most famous opera, "Vanessa", which premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in 1958. As a student, Menotti spent much of his time with the Barber family in West Chester, Pennsylvania. After graduation, the two men bought a house together in Mount Kisco, New York, which they named "Capricorn" and shared for over forty years.  In 1974, Menotti adopted Francis "Chip" Phelan, an American actor and figure skater he had known since the early 1960s. In the same year, Menotti, persuaded by the good acoustics of the main room, purchased the ancestral home of the Marquess of Tweeddale, Yester House, in the village of Gifford, East Lothian, in Scotland. While there, he jokingly referred to himself as "Mr McNotti".

Career as composer.

It was at Curtis that Menotti wrote his first mature opera, "Amelia Goes to the Ball" ("Amelia al Ballo"), to his own Italian text. "The Island God" (which he suppressed, though its libretto was printed by the Metropolitan Opera and can be found in many libraries) and "The Last Savage" were the only other operas he wrote in Italian, the rest being in English. Like Wagner, he wrote the libretti of all his operas. His most successful works were composed in the 1940s and 1950s. Menotti also taught at the Curtis Institute of Music. Music critic Joel Honig served as his personal secretary during the late 1950s.  Menotti wrote the libretti for two of Samuel Barber's operas, "Vanessa" and "A Hand of Bridge", as well as revising the libretto for "Antony and Cleopatra".  "Amelia al Ballo" is the only one of Menotti's operas still to be published in its original or perhaps "complementary" Italian libretto (alongside the English) (see Ricordi editions 1937, 1976 and recent): it is an example of the traditional romantic Italianate style, with a nod to (but not an imitation of) Puccini and, notably, Mascagni (whose final opera, "Nerone", had premiered in 1935). The success of "Amelia" prompted NBC to commission an opera specifically for radio, "The Old Maid and the Thief", one of the first such works. Following this, he wrote a ballet, "Sebastian" (1944), and a piano concerto (1945) before returning to opera with "The Medium" and "The Telephone, or L'Amour à trois".  His first full-length opera, "The Consul", which premiered in 1950, won both the Pulitzer Prize for Music and the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Musical Play of the Year (the latter in 1954). American soprano Patricia Neway starred as the tormented protagonist Magda Sorel, for which she won the Donaldson Award for Best Actress in a Musical in 1950. Menotti apparently intended to give a role to a then-unknown Maria Callas, but the producer would not have it. In 1951, Menotti wrote his Christmas opera "Amahl and the Night Visitors" for NBC. It was the first opera ever written for television in America, and first aired on Christmas Eve, 1951. The opera was such a success that the broadcasting of "Amahl and the Night Visitors" became an annual Christmas tradition. It remains Menotti's most popular work to this day. Menotti won a second Pulitzer Prize for his opera "The Saint of Bleecker Street" in 1955. With "Goya", Menotti reverted to a traditional "Giovane Scuola" Italian style.  Menotti also wrote several ballets and numerous choral works. Notable among these is his cantata "The Death of the Bishop of Brindisi", written in 1963, and the cantata "Landscapes and Remembrances" in 1976 – a descriptive work of Menotti's memories of America written for the United States Bicentennial. Also worthy of note is a small Mass commissioned by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore – "Mass for the Contemporary English Liturgy". He also wrote a violin concerto, symphonies, and a stage play, "The Leper". It was in the field of opera, however, that he made his most notable contributions to American cultural life.

List of Menotti's operas.

OTHER WORKS

Spoleto Festivals.

Menotti founded the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy in 1958, and its companion festival, Spoleto Festival USA, in Charleston, South Carolina in 1977. For three weeks each summer, Spoleto is visited by nearly a half-million people. These festivals were intended to bring opera to a popular audience and helped launch the careers of such artists as singer Shirley Verrett and choreographers Paul Taylor and Twyla Tharp.  In June and July 2007 the Festival of Two Worlds, which Menotti founded and oversaw until his death, dedicated the 50th Anniversary of the Festival to his memory, organised by his son Francis. Menotti works performed during the festival included "Maria Golovin", "Landscapes and Remembrances", "Missa O Pulchritudo", and "The Unicorn, the Gorgon, and the Manticore".  Spoleto in Melbourne  He left Spoleto USA in 1993 to take the helm of the Rome Opera, and in 1986, he extended the concept to a Spoleto Festival in Melbourne, Australia. Menotti was the artistic director during the period of 1986–88, but after three festivals there, he decided to withdraw – and took the naming rights with him. However, while he was in Melbourne, he put the finishing touches to his opera "Goya". The Melbourne Spoleto Festival has now become the Melbourne International Arts Festival.

Honors.

In 1984 Menotti was awarded a Kennedy Center Honor for achievement in the arts, and in 1991 he was chosen "Musical America"'s "Musician of the Year". In addition to composing operas to his own texts, on his chosen subject matter, Menotti directed most productions of his work.  In 1997, he was awarded the Brock Commission from the American Choral Directors Association.  In 2010, the main theatre in Spoleto was renamed as the "Teatro Nuovo Gian Carlo Menotti" to honour his role as creator and spirit of the festival.

Publications.

Vocal scores of his compositions:

References.

Notes Sources

Gian Carlo Menotti (, ; July 7, 1911 – February 1, 2007) was an Italian-American composer and librettist. Although he often referred to himself as an American composer, he kept his Italian citizenship. He wrote the classic Christmas opera "Amahl and the Night Visitors", along with over two dozen other operas intended to appeal to popular taste.


Biography.

Kryl was born on April 12, 1944, in Kroměříž, in the Nazi occupied Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, however his family had roots in Nový Jičín, where they later moved to. The Kryl family owned a printing business, which was confiscated from them after the communist takeover in 1948. Kryl planned to be a potter and studied at an industrial secondary school in Bechyně where he specialized in ceramics. He graduated in 1962.  Kryl moved to Prague in 1968 as an assistant at Czechoslovak Television. In his spare time he performed his romantic and satiric folk songs in numerous small clubs. When the Warsaw Pact armies occupied Czechoslovakia on August 21, 1968, to suppress the Prague Spring reform movement, Kryl released his first album. The title song "Bratříčku zavírej vrátka" ("Keep the Gate Closed, Little Brother") was composed spontaneously on August 22, 1968 as an immediate reaction to the occupation. The album described his perception of the inhumanity of the regime and his views on life under communist rule. The album, released in early 1969, was banned and removed from shelves shortly after, but this could not prevent the songs from getting around the audience and becoming cult hits.  Kryl left Czechoslovakia in 1969 to attend a music festival at Waldeck Castle in West Germany. Faced with certainty of imprisonment in his homeland, he decided to apply for political asylum and stay abroad. His second album, "Rakovina" (meaning "Cancer" in Czech) was banned in Czechoslovakia; however, copies were smuggled into the country and circulated widely. The title song, and other songs on the album, reflected on the paralysis that brought the nation of the Prague Spring on its knees and into a new subjugation; they reference the self-sacrifice of Jan Palach as well as the brutal suppression by the Czechoslovak police of peaceful protests on the first anniversary of the 1968 invasion. Kryl attained a second, German, graduation in 1973 and went on to study art history and journalism at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, though he never attained a title. For the majority of his time in exile, Kryl worked for Radio Free Europe and released a number of albums during this period. Though his albums were banned in Czechoslovakia and not played on government-controlled radio stations, many of his songs became iconic back in his homeland, where listening to his records or singing his songs became a major component of underground protest. Kryl went on several tours across Scandinavia, North America and Australia. During this time, he composed songs not only in his native Czech, but also in Polish and German.  In the enthusiastic November days of 1989, during the Velvet Revolution, Kryl returned to Czechoslovakia to attend his mother's funeral. At first he was thrilled with the end of totalism, but he soon became openly disappointed with the course of transformation of the politics and society. He continued to write protest songs (e.g. "Demokracie", "Democracy") criticising politicians and others responsible for the failure of the country's transition to an authentic democracy, especially those who left the Communist party in or after 1989 and suddenly became 'democrats'. Kryl also attacked those who sought to manipulate the Czech and Slovak citizens by nationalist catchphrases and lies about economic transformation. Due to the conditions in the country that he considered unbearable, he decided to leave for Germany again. On March 3, 1994, just a month before his fiftieth birthday, Karel Kryl died of a heart attack in a Munich hospital.  in memoriam:

Discography.

Karel Kryl only released one album in Czechoslovakia ("Bratříčku, zavírej vrátka"), but he released many albums while in exile, a prominent example would be Tekuté písky.

Karel Kryl (April 12, 1944 Kroměříž – March 3, 1994 Munich) was an iconic Czechoslovak (Moravian born and Czech speaking) poet, singer-songwriter and author of many hit protest songs in which he identified and attacked the hypocrisy, stupidity and inhumanity of the Communist (and later also the post-communist) regime in his home country.


Career.

Fifth son of the 10th Lord Elphinstone, he was born in Elphinstone Tower, near Stirling, Scotland. Two of his brothers went to sea, and he followed their example by entering the Royal Navy in 1761, in but then transferred to, then commanded by Captain John Jervis, afterwards Earl Saint Vincent. In 1767, he made a voyage to the East Indies in the British East India Company's service, and put £2000 lent him by an uncle to such good purpose in a private trading venture that he laid the foundation of a handsome fortune. He became lieutenant in 1770, commander in 1772, and post captain in 1775.

Post-Captain.

During the war in America he was employed against the privateers, and with a naval brigade at the occupation of Charleston, South Carolina. In January 1781, when in command of the 50-gun, he captured a Dutch 50-gun ship which had beaten off a British vessel of equal strength a few days before. On 15 September 1782 in the Delaware Bay he led a squadron that captured the French 38 gun frigate "Aigle" during which Captain Latouche Tréville was taken prisoner. After peace was signed he remained on shore for ten years, serving in Parliament as member first for Dunbartonshire, and then for Stirlingshire. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1790.

Admiral.

When war broke out again in 1793, he was appointed to the 74-gun, in which he took part in the occupation of Toulon by Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood. He particularly distinguished himself by beating a body of the French ashore at the head of a naval brigade of British and Spaniards. He was entrusted with the duty of embarking the fugitives when the town was evacuated. In 1794 he was promoted rear-admiral, and in 1795 he was sent to occupy the Dutch colonies in South Africa thereby establishing the Cape of Good Hope Station. He had a large share in the capture of the Cape in 1795, and in August 1796 captured a whole Dutch squadron in Saldanha Bay. In the interval he had gone on to India, where his health suffered, and the capture at Saldanha was effected on his way home. When the Nore Mutiny broke out in 1797 he was appointed to the command, and was soon able to restore order. He was equally successful at Plymouth, where the squadron was also in a state of effervescence.  At the close of 1798, he was sent as second in command to St Vincent. It was for a long time a thankless post, for St Vincent was at once half incapacitated by ill-health and very arbitrary, while Horatio Nelson, who considered that Keith's appointment was a personal slight to himself, was peevish and insubordinate. In May 1799, he was unable to counter Bruix' expedition, mainly due to sparring among the British naval commanders. Keith followed the enemy to Brest on their retreat, but was unable to bring them to action.  He returned to the Mediterranean in November as commander-in-chief. He co-operated with the Austrians in the siege of Genoa, which surrendered on 4 June 1800. It was however immediately afterwards lost in consequence of the Battle of Marengo, and the French made their re-entry so rapidly that the admiral had considerable difficulty in getting his ships out of the harbour. The close of 1801 and the beginning of the following year were spent in transporting the army sent to recover Egypt from the French. As the naval force of the enemy was completely driven into port, the British admiral had no opportunity of an action at sea, but his management of the convoy carrying the troops, and of the landing at Aboukir, was greatly admired.  He was made Baron Keith of the United Kingdom, an Irish barony having been conferred on him in 1797. On the renewal of the war in 1803 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief, North Sea (which at the time included Nore Command), which post he held till 1807. In February 1812 he was appointed commander-in-chief in the English Channel, and in 1814 he was raised to a viscounty. During his last two commands he was engaged first in overlooking the measures taken to meet a threatened invasion, and then in directing the movements of the numerous small squadrons and private ships employed on the coasts of Spain and Portugal, and in protecting trade.  He was at Plymouth when Napoleon surrendered and was brought to England in by Captain Maitland (1777–1839). The decisions of the British government were expressed through him to the fallen Emperor. Lord Keith refused to be led into disputes, and confined himself to declaring steadily that he had his orders to obey. He was not much impressed by the appearance of his illustrious charge and thought that the airs of Napoleon and his suite were ridiculous. Lord Keith died in 1823 at Tulliallan Castle, near Kincardine-on-Forth, Fife, his property in Scotland, and was buried in the parish church.

Family life.

He was twice married: in 1787 to Jane Mercer, daughter of Colonel William Mercer of Aldie; and in 1808 to Hester Thrale, daughter of Henry Thrale and Hester Thrale, who is spoken of as 'Queeney' in Boswell's "Life of Johnson" and Mme d'Arblay's "Diary". He had a daughter by each marriage, the second being Georgina Augusta Henrietta Keith, but no son. Thus the viscounty became extinct on his death, but the British and Irish baronies descended to his elder daughter Margaret (1788–1867), who married the Comte de Flahault de la Billarderie, only to become extinct on her death. A portrait of him by Owen is in the Painted Hall in Greenwich and another by George Sanders in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.

Freemasonry.

He was Initiated into Scottish Freemasonry in Lodge Holyrood House (St Luke's), No.44, on 16 June 1769.

In fiction.

Lord Keith and his wife 'Queeney' appear in several of the novels in Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey–Maturin series. He is also mentioned in passing in Robert Brightwell's novel "Flashman and the Seawolf", based loosely on the exploits of Thomas, Lord Cochrane (as indeed is, in part, the character of Jack Aubrey).

Bibliography.

There is a panegyrical "Life of Lord Keith" by Alex. Allardyce (Edinburgh, 1882); and biographical notices will be found in John Marshall's "Royal Naval Biography", i. 43 (1823–1835), and the "Naval Chronicle", x. I. (D. H.).

Admiral of the Red George Keith Elphinstone, 1st Viscount Keith GCB (7 January 1746 – 10 March 1823) was a British admiral active throughout the Napoleonic Wars.


Habitat and range.

White-nosed coatis inhabit wooded areas (dry and moist forests) of the Americas. They are found at any altitude from sea level to, and from as far north as southeastern Arizona and New Mexico, through Mexico and Central America, to far northwestern Colombia (Gulf of Urabá region, near Colombian border with Panama). There has been considerable confusion over its southern range limit, but specimen records from most of Colombia (only exception is far northwest) and Ecuador are all South American coatis.  Coatis from Cozumel Island have been treated as a separate species, the Cozumel Island coati, but the vast majority of recent authorities treat it as a subspecies, "N. narica nelsoni", of the white-nosed coati. They are smaller than white-nosed coatis from the adjacent mainland ("N. n. yucatanica"), but when compared more widely to white-nosed coatis the difference in size is not as clear. The level of other differences also support its status as a subspecies rather than separate species.  White-nosed coatis have also been found in the U.S. state of Florida, where they are an introduced species. It is unknown precisely when introduction occurred; an early specimen in the Florida Museum of Natural History, labeled an "escaped captive", dates to 1928. There are several later documented cases of coatis escaping captivity, and since the 1970s there have been a number of sightings, and several live and dead specimens of various ages have been found. These reports have occurred over a wide area of southern Florida, and there is probable evidence of breeding, indicating that the population is well established.

Feeding habits.

They are omnivores, preferring small vertebrates, fruits, carrion, insects, snakes and eggs. They can climb trees easily, where the tail is used for balance, but they are most often on the ground foraging. Their predators include boas, raptors, hunting cats, and Tayras ("Eira barbara"). They readily adapt to human presence; like raccoons, they will raid campsites and trash receptacles. They can be tamed easily, and have been verified experimentally to be quite intelligent.

Behavior.

While the raccoon and ringtail are nocturnal, coatis are active by day, retiring during the night to a specific tree and descending at dawn to begin their daily search for food. However, their habits are adjustable, and in areas where they are hunted by humans for food, or where they raid human settlements for their own food, they might become more nocturnal. Adult males are solitary, but females and sexually immature males form social groups. They use many vocal signals to communicate with one another, and also spend time grooming themselves and each other with their teeth and claws. During foraging times, the young cubs are left with a pair of babysitters, similar to meerkats. The young males and even some females tend to play-fight. Many of the coatis will have short fights over food.  White-nosed coatis are known pollinators of the balsa tree, as observed in a study of a white-nosed coati population in Costa Rica. The coati were observed inserting their noses into the flowers of the tree and ingesting nectar, while the flower showed no subsequent signs of damage. Pollen from the flowers covers the face of the coati following feeding, and later disseminates through the surrounding forest following detachment. Scientists observed a dependent relationship between the balsa tree, which provides a critical resource of hydration and nutrition to the white-nosed coati when environment resources are scarce, and the coati, which increases proliferation of the tree through pollination.

The white-nosed coati ("Nasua narica"), also known as the coatimundi (), is a species of coati and a member of the family Procyonidae (raccoons and their relatives). Local Spanish names for the species include pizote, antoon, and tejón, depending upon the region. It weighs about. However, males are much larger than females: small females can weigh as little as, while large males can weigh as much as. On average, the nose-to-tail length of the species is about with about half of that being the tail length.


Biography.

Early life, ancestry.

He was born in 1910 in the Denhok Valley at Kham Derge, Eastern Tibet, to a family directly descended from the ninth-century King Trisong Detsen. His father was a minister to the King of Derge. When he was seven years old, he was publicly recognized as one of the reincarnations of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo by Shechen Gyaltsap Rinpoche (1871–1926) at Shechen, one of the six principal monasteries of the Nyingmapa school. During the next few years Dilgo Khyentse received full schooling from various tutors, in addition to training in meditation, and in the study of the dharma in general, and of tantra specifically.  His root guru was Shechen Gyaltsap Rinpoche, and Dzongsar Khyentse Chokyi Lodro (1893–1959) was his other main spiritual master. After he completed what is known as the Preliminary Practices (Ngöndro), Khyentse spent most of the next 13 years in silent retreat in remote hermitages and caves near his birthplace.

Buddhist studies.

After completing his retreat at the age of 28, Khyentse spent many years with Dzongsar Khyentse Chokyi Lodro. After receiving from Khyentse Chokyi Lodro the many empowerments of the Rinchen Terdzo (the collection of Revealed Treasures or termas), Dilgo Khyentse requested to spend the rest of his life in solitary meditation. But Khyentse Chokyi Lodro answered, "The time has come for you to teach and transmit to others the countless precious teachings you have received."  Additionally he received teachings at Palpung Monastery from the 11th Tai Situ Rinpoche, and full instruction on the ancient Guhyagarbha Tantra and its various commentaries from Khenpo Tubga at Kyangma Ri-tro. In all he studied with over 50 teachers from the various oral and practice lineages of Tibetan Buddhism.  Later on, the Dalai Lama regarded Dilgo Khyentse as his principal teacher in the Nyingma tradition and of Dzogchen. Khyentse was also one of the main teachers of Chögyam Trungpa, whom he held in high regard,

Move to Tibet, teachings.

In the 1950s, as rebellions broke out in Kham in response to the imposition of Chinese Communist rule, Khyentse and his family escaped to central Tibet, leaving behind his library of dharma books and most of his own writings. Then in 1959, after the 14th Dalai Lama left Tibet, Khyentse, his family and a few disciples left Tibet, including his brother, the 9th Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche and Tenga Rinpoche, and headed for Bhutan. The royal family of Bhutan invited him to stay there and teach.  Later, as he made frequent visits to give teachings to the 14th Dalai Lama at Dharamasala in India, he began giving teachings all over the Himalayas, India, Southeast Asia and the West. He also engaged in scholarship and composed numerous poems, meditation texts and commentaries. He was a terton (a discoverer of spiritual treasures) and was considered to have discovered numerous termas. He was one of the leading masters of the pith-instructions of Dzogchen, the Great Perfection, and one of the principal holders of the Longchen Nyingtik tradition.  In 1980, he founded the Shechen Tennyi Dargyeling Monastery in Nepal, where he transplanted the Shechen tradition to a new home near the great stupa of Boudhanath, just northeast of Kathmandu. There he gave many teachings over the years to hundreds of other lamas, disciples, and students from around the world. Over this same period, and until his paranirvana in 1991, Khyentse was involved in publishing as many Tibetan Buddhist teachings as possible, over 300 volumes altogether.

Final years.

He was one of the few Tibetan Lamas accorded the honorific title "His Holiness". Following the death of Dudjom Rinpoche in 1987, he became the head of the Nyingma School, and remained so until his death in Bhutan on 28 September 1991.  Student Matthieu Ricard remarked  Final cremation ceremonies were held for him over a three-day period near Paro in Bhutan, in November 1992 and were attended by over 100 lamas, the Royal Family and ministers of Bhutan, 500 western disciples and 50,000 devotees.

Preservation of lineages.

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche was a perfect example of a Ri-me master. He was instrumental in safeguarding all of the lineages of Tibetan Buddhism without partiality. He received and gave empowerments, wrote volumes of texts that revitalized and interpreted important transmission teachings.  Gyatrul (b. 1924), in a purport to Karma Chagmé (, fl. 17th century), conveys Khyentse's'samaya' (Sanskrit), diligence and humility in receiving 'wang' (Tibetan), lineal transmission and 'rlung' (Wylie) as rendered into English by B. Alan Wallace:

Dilgo Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche.

Dilgo Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche, aka Ugyen Tenzin Jigme Lhundrup (Tib. ཨོ་རྒྱན་བསྟན་འཛིན་འཇིགས་མེད་ལྷུང་གྲུབ་, Wylie o rgyan bstan 'dzin 'jigs med lhun grub), the son of Tsikey Chokling Rinpoche and brother of Phakchok Rinpoche, who currently resides in Bhutan, was appointed as the incarnation of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche in December 1995:  In 2015 he visited the newly-opened Buddhist Community Centre UK in Aldershot in the United Kingdom.

Film.

The film "Spirit of Tibet: Journey to Enlightenment, The Life and World of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche" was released in 1998. It was made by Matthieu Ricard (French photographer, Buddhist monk, and author) who had traveled with Khyentse for 14 years. It tells Khyentse's story from birth to death, to rebirth, and of his escape following China's invasion of Tibet to his determination to preserve and transmit Buddhist teachings far and wide. The film reveals Tibet's art, ritual philosophy, and sacred dance. Along with rarely photographed areas of Tibet, Bhutan and Nepal, the film features interviews with the Dalai Lama, who speaks about his own spiritual life.  The film "Brilliant Moon: Glimpses of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche", written and directed by Neten Chokling, and narrated by Richard Gere and Lou Reed, uses animation, previously unseen archival footage and photos along with new interviews of Tibet's teachers to tell Khyentse's life story.

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche () (c. 1910 – 28 September 1991) was a Vajrayana master, scholar, poet, teacher, and head of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism from 1987 to 1991.


Features.

The S-Max was the first vehicle in Ford's lineup to feature their Kinetic Design styling. The Kinetic Design scheme includes angular headlights, twin trapezoidal grilles, and large wheelarches.  It comes with heated front and back windscreens, parking sensors, aux input and dual climate control as standard. One major selling point of the S-Max is its "Fold Flat System". This design allows the second and third-row seats to fold seamlessly into the floor, leaving extra storage space.

First generation (2006–2014).

Models.

For the English speaking markets there are three derivatives of the S-Max: Edge, Zetec, and the high-end Titanium. Ford has stated that around sixty percent of all S-Max buyers choose Titanium specification. Continental trim levels are Trend, Titanium and the top of the line Titanium S.  In March 2008, a powerful 2.2 175 PS TDCi common rail diesel was added to Titanium series and delivers acceleration from 0-60 mph in 9.0 seconds. In September 2008, the popular 2.0 140 PS TDCi manual engine was offered with a CO of 159 g/km. The S-Max Trend debuted in China in 2010. The Trend is basically a normal S-Max, but without the back row of seats. The idea is to make it cheaper, and to give more storage space to people who might want it.

Powertrain.

All S-Maxes use versions of the Duratorq or Duratec engines. The S-Max uses a five- speed or six- speed manual transmission, and a six-speed automatic option. New petrol engines for the 2010/2011 models:  Engines available for the 2012 Models:

Safety.

The Ford S-Max incorporates no breakthrough safety features, but it has received a 5-star/36-point (Best in Class) rating from the Euro NCAP.  The S-Max's safety features include the Intelligent Protection System (IPS) which combines a body structure optimised for strength and crashworthiness with restraint equipment and driver aids that help avoid an accident and features that lessen the likelihood of injuries in an impact. It has many modern airbags, including a knee airbag and a thorax airbag.  S-Max's also have an advanced neck protection system, three point seat belts, optimised pre-tensioners, load limiters, anti-submarining seat subframes, a collapsible steering system and safety pedals. For handling it has an Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) along with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD) and standard Electronic Stability Program (ESP) system.

Media.

The high performance version Ford S-Max was reviewed on "Top Gear" (Series 8, Episode 7) against the similar spec Vauxhall Zafira and the Mercedes B200. The S-Max was the cheapest, yet was described as having the best interior and exterior, and being the most comfortable. The presenters, James May and Richard Hammond, also considered it to be the most practical. Overall, they praised the car and declared it to be the best value for money out of the three.

Second generation (2015–present).

The second generation was first presented at the 2014 Paris Motor Show.  After its sibling, Ford Galaxy, was being presented at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show, Ford decided to put it into production in late 2015.  It comes with the same engines as the Galaxy, Mondeo and Edge, which consist of one diesel (in four states of tune) and two petrols. The 1.5 SCTi Ecoboost has 160 hp, and the 2.0 SCTi has 240 hp, the latter can only be had with the Ford 6F automatic transmission. All the diesels average over 50mpg - the best is the 2.0 TDCi Duratorq 120, which produces 57mpg.  Both the 2.0 TDCi 150 and 180 versions come with either a six speed manual or the Powershift, the latter can also be specced with AWD. The final model, the Bi-Turbo 2.0 TDCi 210 comes with the Powershift Gearbox only, and hits 0 to 60 in under nine seconds. The trim levels are similar to any Ford, and mirror those found in the Galaxy, Mondeo and Edge, including Zetec, Titanium and Titanium Sport also an executive spec Vignale is available.

The Ford S-Max (stylized as Ford S-MAX) is an MPV produced by Ford Europe for the European market. Ford also describes the S-Max as an SAV (sports activity vehicle). Introduced at the 2006 Geneva Motor Show, the S-Max went on sale alongside the new generation Galaxy in June 2006.


Formation and petrology.

Serpentinization is a geological low-temperature metamorphic process involving heat and water in which low-silica mafic and ultramafic rocks are oxidized (anaerobic oxidation of Fe by the protons of water leading to the formation of H) and hydrolyzed with water into serpentinite. Peridotite, including dunite, at and near the seafloor and in mountain belts is converted to serpentine, brucite, magnetite, and other minerals — some rare, such as awaruite (NiFe), and even native iron. In the process large amounts of water are absorbed into the rock increasing the volume, reducing the density and destroying the structure.  The density changes from 3.3 to 2.7 g/cm with a concurrent volume increase on the order of 30-40%. The reaction is highly exothermic and rock temperatures can be raised by about, providing an energy source for formation of non-volcanic hydrothermal vents. The magnetite-forming chemical reactions produce hydrogen gas under anaerobic conditions prevailing deep in the mantle, far from the Earth's atmosphere. Carbonates and sulfates are subsequently reduced by hydrogen and form methane and hydrogen sulfide. The hydrogen, methane, and hydrogen sulfide provide energy sources for deep sea chemotroph microorganisms.

Formation of serpentinite.

Serpentinite can form from olivine via several reactions. Olivine is a solid solution of forsterite, the magnesium-endmember, and fayalite, the iron-endmember.  Reaction 1c describes the hydration of olivine to yield serpentine and Mg(OH) (brucite). Serpentine is stable at high pH in the presence of brucite like calcium silicate hydrate, (C-S-H) phases formed along with portlandite (Ca(OH)) in hardened Portland cement paste after the hydration of belite (CaSiO), the artificial calcium equivalent of forsterite.  "Analogy of reaction 1c with belite hydration in ordinary Portland cement":<br> After reaction, the poorly soluble reaction products (aqueous silica or dissolved magnesium ions) can be transported in solution out of the serpentinized zone by diffusion or advection.  A similar suite of reactions involves pyroxene-group minerals, though less readily and with complication of the additional end-products due to the wider compositions of pyroxene and pyroxene-olivine mixes. Talc and magnesian chlorite are possible products, together with the serpentine minerals antigorite, lizardite, and chrysotile. The final mineralogy depends both on rock and fluid compositions, temperature, and pressure. Antigorite forms in reactions at temperatures that can exceed during metamorphism, and it is the serpentine group mineral stable at the highest temperatures. Lizardite and chrysotile can form at low temperatures very near the Earth's surface. Fluids involved in serpentinite formation commonly are highly reactive and may transport calcium and other elements into surrounding rocks; fluid reaction with these rocks may create metasomatic reaction zones enriched in calcium and called rodingites.  In the presence of carbon dioxide, however, serpentinitization may form either magnesite (MgCO) or generate methane (CH). It is thought that some hydrocarbon gases may be produced by serpentinite reactions within the oceanic crust. or, in balanced form:  Reaction 2a is favored if the serpentinite is Mg-poor or if there isn't enough carbon dioxide to promote talc formation. Reaction 2b is favored in highly magnesian compositions and low partial pressure of carbon dioxide.  The degree to which a mass of ultramafic rock undergoes serpentinisation depends on the starting rock composition and on whether or not fluids transport calcium, magnesium and other elements away during the process. If an olivine composition contains sufficient fayalite, then olivine plus water can completely metamorphose to serpentine and magnetite in a closed system. In most ultramafic rocks formed in the Earth's mantle, however, the olivine is about 90% forsterite endmember, and for that olivine to react completely to serpentine, magnesium must be transported out of the reacting volume.  Serpentinitization of a mass of peridotite usually destroys all previous textural evidence because the serpentine minerals are weak and behave in a very ductile fashion. However, some masses of serpentinite are less severely deformed, as evidenced by the apparent preservation of textures inherited from the peridotite, and the serpentinites may have behaved in a rigid fashion.

Hydrogen production by anaerobic oxidation of fayalite ferrous ions.

Serpentine is the product of the reaction between water and fayalite's ferrous (Fe) ions. The process is of interest because it generates hydrogen gas:  The reaction can be viewed simplistically as follows:  This reaction resembles the Schikorr reaction observed in the anaerobic oxidation of the ferrous hydroxide in contact with water:

Extraterrestrial production of methane by serpentinization.

The presence of traces of methane in the atmosphere of Mars has been hypothesized to be a possible evidence for life on Mars if methane was produced by bacterial activity. Serpentinization has been proposed as an alternative non-biological source for the observed methane traces. Using data from the Cassini probe flybys obtained in 2010–12, scientists were able to confirm that Saturn's moon Enceladus likely has a liquid water ocean beneath its frozen surface. A model suggests that the ocean on Enceladus has an alkaline pH of 11–12. The high pH is interpreted to be a key consequence of serpentinization of chondritic rock, that leads to the generation of H, a geochemical source of energy that can support both abiotic and biological synthesis of organic molecules.

Impact on agriculture.

Soil cover over serpentinite bedrock tends to be thin or absent. Soil with serpentine is poor in calcium and other major plant nutrients, but rich in elements toxic to plants such as chromium and nickel.

Uses.

Decorative stone in architecture.

Grades of serpentinite higher in calcite, along with the verd antique (breccia form of serpentinite), have historically been used as decorative stones for their marble-like qualities. College Hall at the University of Pennsylvania, for example, is constructed out of serpentine. Popular sources in Europe before contact with the Americas were the mountainous Piedmont region of Italy and Larissa, Greece.

Carvingstone tools, oil lamp-known as the Qulliq and Inuit sculpture.

Inuit and indigenous people of the Arctic areas and less so of southern areas used the carved bowl shaped serpentinite Qulliq or Kudlik lamp with wick, to burn oil or fat to heat, make light and cook with. Inuit made tools and more recently carvings of animals for commerce.

Swiss ovenstone.

A variety of chlorite talc schist associated with Alpine serpentinite is found in Val d’Anniviers, Switzerland and was used for making "ovenstones" (Ger. "Ofenstein"), a carved stone base beneath a cast iron stove.

Neutron shield in nuclear reactors.

Serpentinite has a significant amount of bound water, hence it contains abundant hydrogen atoms able to slow down neutrons by elastic collision (neutron thermalization process). Because of this serpentinite can be used as dry filler inside steel jackets in some designs of nuclear reactors. For example, in RBMK series it was used for top radiation shielding to protect operators from escaping neutrons. Serpentine can also be added as aggregate to special concrete used in nuclear reactor shielding to increase the concrete density (2.6 g/cm) and its neutron capture cross section.

Cultural references.

It is the state rock of California, USA and the California Legislature specified that serpentine was "the official State Rock and lithologic emblem." In 2010, a bill was introduced which would have removed serpentine's special status as state rock due to it potentially containing chrysotile asbestos. The bill met with resistance from some California geologists, who noted that the chrysotile present is not hazardous unless it is mobilized in the air as dust.

Serpentinite is a rock composed of one or more serpentine group minerals, the name originating from the similarity of the texture of the rock to that of the skin of a snake. Minerals in this group, which are rich in magnesium and water, light to dark green, greasy looking and slippery feeling, are formed by serpentinization, a hydration and metamorphic transformation of ultramafic rock from the Earth's mantle. The mineral alteration is particularly important at the sea floor at tectonic plate boundaries.


Biography.

Early life.

Mogilevich was born in 1946 to a Jewish family in Kiev's Podol neighborhood.  His first significant fortune derived from scamming fellow Russian Jews eager to emigrate to countries including the United States and Israel; Mogilevich made deals to buy their assets, sell them for fair market value, and forward the proceeds. Instead he simply sold the assets and pocketed the proceeds. He served two terms in prison, of 3 and 4 years, for currency-dealing offenses.  Beginning in the early 1980s, according to the FBI, Mogilevich was the key money-laundering contact for the Solntsevskaya Bratva.

Hungary.

In early 1991, Mogilevich moved to Hungary and married his Hungarian girlfriend Katalin Papp. He had three children with her, and obtained a Hungarian passport. Living in a fortified villa outside Budapest, he continued to invest in a wide array of enterprises, including buying a local armament factory, "Army Co-Op," which produced anti-aircraft guns.  In 1994, the Mogilevich group obtained control over Inkombank, one of the largest private banks in Russia, in a secret deal with bank chairman Vladimir Vinogradov, getting direct access to the world financial system. The bank collapsed in 1998 under suspicions of money laundering.

Czech raid.

In May 1995, a meeting in Prague between Mogilevich and Sergei Mikhailov, head of the Solntsevo group, was raided by Czech police. The occasion was a birthday party for one of the deputy Solntsevo mafiosi. Two hundred partygoers (including dozens of prostitutes) in the restaurant "U Holubů", owned by Mogilevich, were detained and 30 expelled from the country. Police had been tipped off that the Solntsevo group intended to execute Mogilevich at the party over a disputed payment of $5 million. But Mogilevich never showed up and it is believed that a senior figure in the Czech police, working with the Russian mafia, had warned him. Soon, however, the Czech Interior Ministry imposed a 10-year entry ban on Mogilevich, while the Hungarian government declared him "persona non grata" and the British barred his entry into the UK, declaring him "one of the most dangerous men in the world."

Toronto exchange.

In 1997 and 1998, the presence of Mogilevich, Mikhailov and others associated with the Russian Mafia behind a public company trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), YBM Magnex International Inc., was exposed by Canadian journalists. On May 13, 1998, dozens of agents for the FBI and several other U.S. government agencies raided YBM's headquarters in Newtown, Pennsylvania. Shares in the public company, which had been valued at $1 billion on the TSX, became worthless overnight.

Money laundering and tax evasion.

Until 1998, Inkombank and Bank Menatep participated in a US$10 billion money laundering scheme through the Bank of New York. Mogilevich was also suspected of participation in large-scale tax fraud, where untaxed heating oil was sold as highly taxed car fuel – one of the greatest scandals that broke around 1990–1991.  Estimates are that up to one-third of fuels sold went through this scheme, resulting in massive tax losses for various countries of Central Europe (Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland). In the Czech Republic the scandal is estimated to have cost the taxpayers around 100 billion CZK (≈US$5 billion) and involved, besides others, murders and the attempted assassination of a journalist writing about the problem.  In 2003, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation put Mogilevich on the "Wanted List" for participation in the scheme to defraud investors in Canadian company YBM Magnex International Inc. Frustrated by their previous unsuccessful efforts to charge him for arms trafficking and prostitution, they had now settled on the large-scale fraud charges as their best hope of running him to ground. He was, however, considered to be the most powerful Russian mobster alive. In a 2006 interview, former Clinton administration anti-organized-crime czar Jon Winer said: "I can tell you that Semion Mogilevich is as serious an organized criminal as I have ever encountered and I am confident that he is responsible for contract killings."  Mogilevich was arrested in Moscow on January 24, 2008, for suspected tax evasion. His bail was placed, and he was released on July 24, 2009. On his release, the Russian interior ministry stated that he was released because the charges against him "are not of a particularly grave nature".

FBI Ten Most Wanted list.

On October 22, 2009, he was named by the FBI as the 494th fugitive to be placed on the Ten Most Wanted list. In December 2015 he was removed from the list. The FBI indicated he no longer met list criteria, for reasons relating to living in a country with which the United States does not maintain an extradition treaty.  In spite of the warrants issued against him, he still lives freely in Moscow, according to the FBI. As to Mogilevich himself, government law enforcement agencies from throughout the world had by then been trying to prosecute him for over 10 years. But he had, in the words of one journalist, "a knack for never being in the wrong place at the wrong time".  Both Mogilevich and his associate Mikhailov ceased to travel to the West in the late 1990s.

Semion Yudkovich Mogilevich ( ; born June 30, 1946) is a Ukrainian-born, Russian organized crime boss, described by agencies in the European Union and United States as the "boss of bosses" of most Russian Mafia syndicates in the world. Mogilevich is believed to direct a vast criminal empire and is described by the FBI as "the most dangerous mobster in the world." He has been accused by the FBI of "weapons trafficking, contract murders, extortion, drug trafficking, and prostitution on an international scale."


History.

In 1987, the European Community approved a plan to create a mobility scheme for higher education. Part of it was the Erasmus programme - an exchange programme for students to provide students with the opportunity to spend part of their studies abroad.  In 1989 the Erasmus Bureau invited 32 former Erasmus Students for an evaluation meeting in Ghent, Belgium. This meeting was the starting point for the Erasmus Student Network. The lack of peer-to-peer support was singled out as a major issue and the driving force behind the creation of the Erasmus Student Network, named for the Dutch Renaissance humanist Erasmus of Rotterdam.  By 1994 ESN had 60 sections in 14 countries. In 2004 the ESN network consisted of 170 sections in and outside Europe, from Scandinavia to Morocco. In 2005, ESN established its headquarters in Brussels and legally registered as a Belgian non-profit organisation.  As of September 23, 2019, the Erasmus Student Network consists of 529 local associations ("sections") in 42 countries and has more than 13,500 volunteers across Europe.

Structure.

ESN works on three levels - local, national and international. It is only active within the borders defined by the Council of Europe. Its president for the 2018-19 term is João Pinto

Local level.

ESN on local level consists of "sections" that directly work with the international students. They organize activities like introduction programmes, get-togethers and cultural events and represent the exchange students and their needs towards academic institutions and local authorities. Together the local sections, or rather representatives from the sections form the Annual General Meeting (AGM), the highest decision-making body of ESN.

National level.

The national level represents the needs of international students towards governments and national authorities. Local sections in the same countries together form a National Platform (NP) who can elect a National Board and elects a National Representative (NR) to represent the national network on the international level.

International level.

The International Board is the executive body of ESN International and consists of five Board members (President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Communication Manager and Web Project Administrator). Since 2005, the members of the International Board are full-time volunteers living and working in Brussels. The International Board is supported by the Secretariat composed of employed staff.  Each country elects a National Representative and all National Representatives form the Council of National Representatives (CNR). During the year they represent the interest of the network and are, after the AGM, the highest decision-making body.  ESN has five International Committees that work together with its respective international board member in charge. The Committees of ESN are - International Committee for Education (ICE), Network Committee (NEC), Finance Committee (FICO), Communication Committee (ComCom) and IT Committee (IT).

International events.

Since its foundation in 1989, ESN holds Annual General Meetings (AGM), alternating in major cities throughout Europe.  Other activities include annual Cultural Medleys (CM) from 1999 until 2012, and annual meetings of the organization's five Regional Platforms. These Regional Platforms are:

Erasmus Student Network (ESN) is a Europe-wide student organisation. Its goal is to support and develop student exchange on a local, national and international level. It is composed of around 13,500 members in over 530 local sections in 42 countries in Higher Education Institutions, including universities, polytechnics, and university colleges.