Plot.

After the apparent death of her true love Cyrus, Alice returns home to Victorian England where she is placed in an asylum, and her doctors aim to cure her with a treatment that will make her forget everything about her tales in Wonderland. However, she is rescued by the Knave of Hearts and the White Rabbit and brought back to Wonderland to save Cyrus, who is spotted alive. Now back in Wonderland, Alice must evade the plots of Jafar and the Red Queen, all while dealing with the whimsical dangers of Wonderland, including the infamous Jabberwocky, and in a crazy and dangerous way to find her true love.

Production and casting.

In February 2013, Kitsis and Horowitz, along with producers Zack Estrin and Jane Espenson, developed a spin-off focusing on Lewis Carroll's Wonderland. It was initially reported that the show would recast Sebastian Stan's Mad Hatter due to his commitment to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but Edward Kitsis later revealed the next month that due to fan backlash and respect for Stan's performance, the character would not be recast and the series would proceed without the character.  The show includes new characters, such as "Amahl, described as exotic, soulful and optimistic; and The Knave, a sardonic adventurer, a man of action, a loner and a heart-breaker." On March 28, 2013, it was announced that Sophie Lowe would portray the lead role of Alice. It was also announced that Peter Gadiot would play her love interest, Cyrus, who has "a background". Michael Socha will portray the Knave of Hearts. Barbara Hershey, who has appeared as Cora, the Queen of Hearts, in the main series, may also appear in this spin-off reprising the same role in back stories. Also, during the month of April, Paul Reubens was cast as the voice of the White Rabbit and Emma Rigby was cast as the Red Queen.  On May 10, 2013, ABC announced that it had greenlit the spin-off, as well as also announcing that John Lithgow would replace Reubens as the voice of the White Rabbit. On May 14, 2013, ABC announced that the spin-off will air in the Thursday night timeslot instead of making it a fill-in for the parent series. "We really want to tell the story without having to worry about how to stretch it for five years," said Edward Kitsis. "This is not meant to be a 22-episode season. Whatever it ends up being, we'll have told a complete story..." It was revealed in August at the TCA Summer Press Tour that, contrary to previous reports that more than 13 episodes were ordered straight out the gate, only the usual amount of 13 episodes had been ordered. Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz commented "However many we wind up doing this season, what we're planning to do is tell a kind of complete tale with a beginning, middle and end" and added "If it does well [and] people like it, hopefully we'll come back and tell another adventure with this cast."  At Comic-Con 2013, it was announced that former "Lost" star, Naveen Andrews, would be joining the cast as the villain Jafar. It was announced in September that Keith David and Iggy Pop would also be included on the cast, as the Cheshire Cat and Caterpillar respectively. Iggy Pop will be a replacement for Roger Daltrey, who voiced the character originally as a guest star on "Once Upon a Time". Barbara Hershey reprised her role as the Queen of Hearts in one episode.

Episodes.

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Reception.

Rotten Tomatoes gave the series an approval rating of 59% based on 27 reviews, with an average rating of 6.03/10. The site's critical consensus reads ""Once Upon a Time in Wonderland" is attractive to the eye and pleasantly narrated, but it loses some luster due to a jumbled story and Wonderland's unlikable inhabitants."  The series has a score of 59/100 on Metacritic based on 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Mary McNamara of the "Los Angeles Times" gave the show a positive review writing: "There is plenty of that—the good, the beautiful and the etc. Some of it is conjured by CG magic (the Red Queen's palace is splendid, and the White Rabbit's ears a masterwork), and some by just good storytelling and performer chemistry, which Lowe and Socha have in abundance. Add to that a smattering of witty dialogue, clever character twists and, of course, the Victo-goth steampunk look, and ABC has another shot at redefining the family hour." David Wiegand of the "San Francisco Chronicle" wrote that while the plot was "a little overstuffed", "the special effects, crisp direction and high-octane performances keep us interested enough to follow Alice down the rabbit hole." Brian Lowry of "Variety" gave the show a mixed review: "Wonderland is equally handsome [as "Once Upon a Time"], but behind those virtual sets lurk many potential flaws. An appealing Alice certainly helps matters, but past performance reduces the likelihood of a fairy-tale ending."

Broadcast.

In Canada, the City network simulcasted the ABC broadcast as it debuted in October.

Home video.

As of now, there has been no release of this series on home video. However, episodes are available for purchase through iTunes, Vudu and Amazon Prime.

Once Upon a Time in Wonderland is an American fantasy-drama series that aired on ABC from October 10, 2013 to April 3, 2014. It was created by Edward Kitsis, Adam Horowitz, Zack Estrin, and Jane Espenson for ABC Studios. The program is a spin-off of the prior ABC series "Once Upon a Time" and aired on ABC at 8:00 pm Eastern/7:00 pm Central on Thursday nights in the 2013–14 television season beginning October 10, 2013.


Biography.

Nicolas Perrot was born in France between 1641 and 1644, perhaps at Darcey in Burgundy, where his father was lieutenant of justice.  Perrot traveled to New France around 1660 with the Jesuit missionaries. He journeyed with several to the Western Great Lakes, where they intended to preach to the Native Americans, reaching present-day Wisconsin in 1665. He earned the friendship of the natives by swapping furs for guns, allowing the group to defend themselves on an equal footing against their enemies. He was nicknamed the "trafficker of iron", or "iron legs".  In 1667 he formed a fur trading company with three settlers in Montreal. On August 12, 1667, he returned to the Green Bay region. In 1670, he was enlisted as a translator for Simon-François Daumont de Saint-Lusson, a military officer and deputy of Jean Talon, who had been sent "to lay claim to the land of the Ottawa, Amikwa, Illinois, and of other nations discovered or to be discovered in North America contiguous and adjacent to Lake Superior(), the great inland sea, including all its length and breadth, and including the resources therein, for Louis XIV" at what was called "The Pageant of the Sault".  Afterward, he married Madeleine Raclot. He was given a land grant on the river Saint-Michel in present-day Quebec. By the 1681 census he and Madeleine had six children. They had a total of eleven altogether.  Perrot's relationship with and influence over the tribes of the west was drawn on again during the 1680s. In 1684, he participated in the peacekeeping mission of the Governor Lefebvre de La Barre and succeeded in bringing the warriors of several nations together to sign a peace treaty. In the spring of 1685 he was appointed Commandant-in-Chief of Bais Des Puants (present-day Green Bay, Wisconsin) and the neighboring regions when war broke out between the Fox tribe and the Sioux and Chippewa tribes. He worked hard to bring about peace, and was successful, at least for a time. After this, Perrot traveled to the northern waters of the Mississippi River, in the territory of the Sioux, where he built Fort Saint Antoine, now in Minnesota. In the spring of 1687 he was in the region of Detroit taking part in an expedition. A fire broke out at the Jesuit mission at Bais De Puants, and 40,000 livres worth of his furs were destroyed. Perrot was financially ruined. He returned to Montreal, where in the spring of 1688 he served as an interpreter for the treaty between Governor and Onondaga chief Otreouti, who promised the neutrality of the Onondaga, Cayuga, and Oneida of the Five Nations of the "Haudenosaunee" or Iroquois League in confrontations with the French. In 1689 he built Fort Saint-Pierre at the mouth of the Wisconsin River, and established peace among area tribes.  In 1690, he and Louis de la Porte de Louvigny led a vital supply convoy from Montreal to Michilimackinac. Their success in breaking the Iroquois blockade of the Ottawa River and in resupplying the western Indians loyal to the French may have saved New France from the Five Nations. In subsequent years he was involved in the discovery of lead mines brought to his attention by Miami chiefs.  In 1695 Perrot brought the Miami, Sauk, Menominee, Potawatomi and Fox chiefs to Montreal at the governor’s request, regarding war with the Iroquois. Perrot returned west where his concern was to maintain unity and peace among them in their efforts against the Iroquois. However, there was danger, and on two occasions he was almost sent to be burned at the stake by the Mascouten and the Miami tribe. Perrot settled on his land grant at Bécancour. The Indian chiefs whom he had known saw him for the last time in 1701 at the Great Peace of Montreal. He still served as interpreter, but this period of his life was marked by financial difficulties and harassment from creditors. He asked the authorities for a compensation he said was due to him, and a pension in consideration of services long provided, but was not satisfied. He was involved in court cases involving lawsuits filed by and against him. He also wrote his memoirs, which became valuable to later historians.  Nicolas Perrot died on the 13th of August 1717 at about the age of 74. He was buried the next day in the church at Bécancour. Nine of his eleven children outlived him. His wife died in 1724.  Perrot State Park, near the confluence of the Trempealeau and Mississippi Rivers in Wisconsin, is named after him.

Nicolas Perrot (c.1644–1717), a French explorer, fur trader, and diplomat, was one of the first European men to travel in the Upper Mississippi Valley, in what is now Wisconsin and Minnesota.


Adoption of the name.

Since 1960, Czechoslovakia's official name had been the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic ("Československá socialistická republika", ČSSR). In the aftermath of the Velvet Revolution, newly elected President Václav Havel announced that "Socialist" would be dropped from the country's official name.  Conventional wisdom suggested that the country would resume the name used from 1919 to 1938 and from 1945 to 1960, Czechoslovak Republic ("Československá republika"). However, Slovak politicians objected that the traditional name subsumed Slovakia's equal status in the federal state too much. The first compromise was Constitutional Law 81/1990, which changed the country's name to Czechoslovak Federative Republic (, ; "ČSFR"), explicitly acknowledging the federal nature of the state. It was passed on 29 March 1990 (coming into force on the same day) only after an informal agreement on the Slovak form which would be explicitly codified by a future law on state symbols. This was met with general disapproval and another round of haggling, dubbed "the hyphen war" ("pomlčková válka/vojna") after Slovaks' wish to insert a hyphen into the name ("Česko-Slovensko"). However, aggrieved Czechs vehemently opposed it as too reminiscent of such practice during the "Second Republic" (when the official name was "Czecho-Slovak Republic"—which had also been used from 1938 to 1939)—when the country had been mutilated by the Munich Agreement and was slipping toward its final dismemberment at the hands of Nazi Germany a year later. The resultant compromise, after much behind-the-scenes negotiation, was Constitutional Law 101/1990, passed on 20 April and in force since its declaration on 23 April. The law changed the country's name to "Czech and Slovak Federative Republic"; unlike the previous one, it also explicitly listed both versions and stated they were equal.  The name breaks the rules of Czech and Slovak orthography, which do not use capitalization for proper names' second and further words (see above), nor adjectives derived from them. Thus the correct form would be "Česká a slovenská federat... republika." However, "Česká a Slovenská F. R." was adopted in hopes of eliminating any debate about the prestige of Slovakia. While few people were happy with the name, it came into use quickly. Czech and Slovak tensions, of which this was an early sign, soon became manifest in matters of greater immediate importance which made the country's name a comparatively minor issue and at the same time even more impossible to change, so the name remained.  The 1960 Constitution remained in force on an interim basis. However, it was heavily amended to prune out its Communist character. Work on a permanent constitution was still underway at the time of the dissolution of Czechoslovakia.

After the Velvet Revolution in late-1989, Czechoslovakia adopted the official name Czech and Slovak Federative Republic (, ; ČSFR) during the period from 23 April 1990 until 31 December 1992, when the country was dissolved into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.


Description.

"Quercus nigra" is a medium-sized deciduous tree, growing to 30 m (100 ft) tall with a trunk up to 1 m (3 ft) in diameter. Young trees have a smooth, brown bark that becomes gray-black with rough scaly ridges as the tree matures. The leaves are alternate, simple and tardily deciduous, remaining on the tree until mid-winter; they are 3–12 cm (1–5 in) long and 2–6 cm (1/2–2 in) broad, variable in shape, most commonly shaped like a spatula being broad and rounded at the top and narrow and wedged at the base. The margins vary, usually being smooth to shallowly lobed, with a bristle at the apex and lobe tips. The tree is easy to identify by the leaves, which have a lobe that looks as if a drop of water is hanging from the end of the leaf. The top of each leaf is a dull green to bluish green and the bottom is a paler bluish-green. On the bottom portion of the leaves, rusty colored hairs run along the veins. The acorns are arranged singly or in pairs, 10–14 mm (1/3–1/2 in) long and broad, with a shallow cupule; they mature about 18 months after pollination in fall of second year.

Ecology.

Water oak serves the same ecological role as weeping willow and other wetland trees. It is adapted to wet, swampy areas, such as along ponds and stream banks, but can also tolerate well-drained sites and even heavy, compacted soils. It grows in sandy soils, red clays, and old fields to the borders of swamps, streams, to bottomlands. Due to its ability to grow and reproduce quickly, the water oak is often the most abundant species in a stand of trees. The tree is relatively short-lived compared to other oaks and may live only 60 to 80 years. It does not compete well and does not tolerate even light shade. Water oak is frequently used to restore bottomland hardwood forests on land that was previously cleared for agriculture or pine plantations. Minimum age for flowering and fruiting is 20 years and the tree produces heavy crops of acorns nearly every year. Water oak is not recommended as an ornamental due to being short-lived, disease-prone, and extremely messy.  Hybrids of water oak are known with southern red oak ("Quercus falcata"), bluejack oak ("Quercus incana"), turkey oak ("Quercus laevis"), blackjack oak ("Quercus marilandica"), willow oak ("Quercus phellos"), Shumard oak ("Quercus shumardii"), and black oak ("Quercus velutina").  Water oak acorns are an important food for white-tailed deer, eastern gray squirrel, raccoon, wild turkey, mallard, wood duck, and bobwhite quail. In winter, deer will browse the buds and young twigs.

Uses and history.

Water oak has been used for timber and for fuel by people in the southern states since the 17th century. The wood is generally sold as "red oak", mixed with the wood from other red oaks.  Other names include spotted oak, duck oak, punk oak, orange oak or possum oak.

Quercus nigra, the water oak, is an oak in the red oak group ("Quercus" sect. "Lobatae"), native to the eastern and south-central United States, found in all the coastal states from New Jersey to Texas, and inland as far as Oklahoma, Kentucky, and southern Missouri. It occurs in lowlands and up to 450 m (1500 ft) altitude.


History.

Independent kingdom.

Aragon was originally a Carolingian feudal county around the city of Jaca, which in the first half of the 9th century became a vassal state of the kingdom of Pamplona (later Navarre), its own dynasty of counts ending without male heir in 922. The name "Aragón" is the same as that of the river Aragón, which flows by Jaca. It might derive from the Basque "Aragona/Haragona" meaning "good upper valley" ("haran+goi+ona", where "haran" = "valley", "goi" = "upper, high", and "ona" = "good"). Alternatively, the name may be derived from the earlier Roman province of Hispania Tarraconensis.  On the death of Sancho III of Navarre in 1035, the Kingdom of Navarre was divided into three parts: (1) Pamplona and its hinterland along with western and coastal Basque districts, (2) Castile, and (3) Sobrarbe, Ribagorza and Aragon. Sancho's son Gonzalo inherited Sobrarbe and Ribargorza, whereas his illegitimate son Ramiro received Aragon, but Gonzalo was killed soon after and all the land he owned went to his brother Ramiro, thus becoming the first de facto king of Aragon, although he never used that title.  By defeating his brother, García Sánchez III of Navarre, Ramiro achieved independence for Aragon. His son Sancho Ramírez, who also inherited the kingdom of Navarre, was the first to call himself "King of the Aragonese and Pamplonese". As the Aragonese domains expanded to the south, conquering land from Al Andalus, the capital city moved from Jaca to Huesca (1096), and later to Zaragoza (1118). After Alfonso the Battler died childless in 1135, different rulers were chosen for Navarre and Aragon, and the two kingdoms ceased to have the same ruler. By 1285 the southernmost areas of what is nowadays Aragon had been taken from the Moors.

Dynastic union with the County of Barcelona.

The Kingdom of Aragon gave the name to the Crown of Aragon, created in 1150 with the dynastic union resulting from the marriage of the Princess of Aragon, Petronilla, and the Count of Barcelona, Ramon Berenguer IV. Their son Alfonso II inherited all of the territories within the House of Aragon and within the House of Barcelona. The King of Aragon also held the title of Count of Barcelona and ruled territories that consisted of not only the present administrative region of Aragon, but also Catalonia, and later the kingdoms of Majorca, Valencia, Sicily, Naples and Sardinia. The King of Aragón was the direct ruler of the Aragonese region, and held the titles of Count of Provence, Count of Barcelona, Lord of Montpellier, and Duke of Athens and Neopatria. Each of these titles gave him sovereignty over a certain region, and these titles changed as he won and lost territories. In the 14th century, his power was greatly restricted by the Union of Aragon.

Union of the Crowns of Aragon and Castile and afterwards.

The Crown of Aragon became a part of the Spanish monarchy after the dynastic union with Castile, which supposed the "de facto" unification of both kingdoms under a common monarch. The house of Barcelona held the Crown until 1410, when it went extinct. Subsequently, in 1412 the Aragonese secured the election of a Castilian prince, Ferdinand of Antequera, to the vacant Aragonese throne, over strong Catalan opposition. One of Ferdinand's successors, John II of Aragon (1458–1479), countered residual Catalan resistance by arranging for his heir, Ferdinand, to marry Isabella, the heir apparent of Henry IV of Castile. In 1479, upon John II's death, the crowns of Aragon and Castile were united to form the nucleus of modern Spain. However, Aragonese territories retained their autonomous parliamentary and administrative institutions, such as the Corts, until the Nueva Planta decrees, which were promulgated between 1707 and 1715 by Philip V of Spain in the aftermath of the War of the Spanish Succession. The decrees "de jure" ended the kingdoms of Aragon, Valencia and Mallorca, and the Principality of Catalonia, and merged them with Castile to officially form the Spanish kingdom. A new Nueva Planta decree in 1711 restored some rights in Aragon, such as the Aragonese Civil Rights, but preserved the end of the political independence of the kingdom.  The previous Kingdom of Aragon remained as an administrative unit until 1833, when it was divided into the three existing provinces. In the aftermath of Francisco Franco's death, Aragon became one of the autonomous communities of Spain in 1982.

The Kingdom of Aragon (,,, ) was a medieval and early modern kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day autonomous community of Aragon, in Spain. It should not be confused with the larger Crown of Aragon, that also included other territories — the Principality of Catalonia (which included the former Catalan Counties), the Kingdom of Valencia, the Kingdom of Majorca, and other possessions that are now part of France, Italy, and Greece — that were also under the rule of the King of Aragon, but were administered separately from the Kingdom of Aragon.


Themes.

The novel chronicles the life of 19-year-old intellectual, Arkady Dolgoruky, illegitimate child of the controversial and womanizing landowner Versilov. A focus of the novel is the recurring conflict between father and son, particularly in ideology, which represents the battles between the conventional "old" way of thinking in the 1840s and the new nihilistic point of view of the youth of 1860s Russia. The young of Arkady's time embraced a very negative opinion of Russian culture in contrast to Western or European culture.  Another main theme is Arkady's development and utilization of his "idea" in his life, mainly a form of rebellion against society (and his father) through the rejection of attending a university, and the making of money and living independently, onto the eventual aim of becoming excessively wealthy and powerful.  The question of emancipation or what to do with the newly freed serfs in the face of the corrupting influence of the West looms over the novel. Arkady's mother is a former serf and Versilov is a landowner and understanding their relationship is ultimately at the center of Arkady's quest to find out who Versilov is and what he did to his mother. Answering the question of emancipation, in Dostoevsky's novel, has to do with how to educate the serfs and address the damage of Petrine reforms in order to construct a new Russian identity.  The novel was written and serially published while Leo Tolstoy was publishing Anna Karenina. Dostoevsky's novel about the "accidental family" stands in contrast to Tolstoy's novel about the aristocratic Russian family.

English translations.

This is a list of the unabridged English translations of the novel:

Critical opinions.

Ronald Hingley, author of "Russians and Society" and a specialist in Dostoevsky's works, thought this novel a bad one, whereas Richard Pevear (in the introduction to his and Larissa Volokhonsky's 2003 translation of the novel), stridently defended its worth.

The Raw Youth (, "Podrostok"), also published as The Adolescent or An Accidental Family, is a novel by Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky, first published in monthly installments in 1875 in the Russian literary magazine "Notes of the Fatherland". Originally, Dostoevsky had created the work under the title "Discord".


Life.

Bramer was born in Delft. In 1614, at the age of 18, he left on a long trip eventually reaching Rome in 1616, via Atrecht, Amiens, Paris, Aix (February 1616), Marseille, Genoa, and Livorno. In Rome he was one of the founders of the Bentvueghels group of Northern artists, and was nicknamed "Nestelghat" (Fidget). He lived with Wouter Crabeth and got into a fight with Claude Lorraine. He dedicated a poem to Wybrand de Geest. Bramer lived in Rome intermittently until October 1627, visiting Mantua and Venice, often for deliveries and to meet Domenico Fetti. In Italy Bramer acquired the sobriquet 'Leonardo della Notte' or 'Leonardo delle Notti' ('Leonardo of the night' or 'nights').  By 1628 he was back in Delft, where he joined the Guild of Saint Luke in 1629 and the schutterij. Among his many patrons were members of the House of Orange, but local burgomasters and schepen also bought his paintings in great numbers. He was a many sided artist, designing for tapestry firms in Delft, painting murals and ceilings, some of which are illusionistic in style. He painted real frescos in the Civic Guard house, the nearby stadholder's palaces in Honselersdijk, Rijswijk, the Communal Land Housde and the Prinsenhof in Delft. Due to the Dutch climate they no longer survive. In 1648 Bramer traveled to Rome for a second time. He evidently knew the greatest of his Delft contemporaries, Johannes Vermeer, as he came to the latter's defence when his future mother-in-law was trying to prevent him from marrying her daughter.  It is possible that Vermeer received his artistic training from Bramer, although there is no documentation for this, and Bramer's dark and exotic style is unlike Vermeer's.  A lifelong bachelor, Bramer remained very productive until his death, which occurred in his home town of Delft in 1674.

Work.

Bramer showed in his choice of subjects a preference for Italian rather than Dutch artistic practice. His subjects are usually mythological, allegorical, historical or biblical scenes (such as the "Denial of St Peter", Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam). He stayed away from typical Dutch themes such as landscapes, still lifes, portraits and genre pieces and he rarely painted Italianate pastoral scenes popular with the Utrecht Caravaggisti. His style is nervous, but his technique, painting the reflection of light, is very good. His famous "Album Bramer" (drawn between 1642 and 1654, now in Leiden) contains many sketches after paintings in Delft collections. He was influenced by Adam Elsheimer and the fresco painter Agostino Tassi. Upon his death, his works were offered for sale in 1674 in an advertisement in the Haarlems Dagblad, probably necessary because of the (depressed) Dutch economy: Among his drawings, probably the most puzzling set are those he titled "Straatwerken," meaning "street works." From his inventory it is clear that the Flemish merchant and art collector Gaspar Roomer who resided in Naples owned 1500 drawings by Bramer.

Leonaert Bramer, also Leendert or Leonard (24 December 1596 – 10 February 1674 (buried)), was a Dutch painter known primarily for genre, religious, and history paintings. Very prolific as a painter and draftsman, he is noted especially for nocturnal scenes which show a penchant for exotic details of costume and setting. He also painted frescos—a rarity north of the Alps—which have not survived, as well as murals on canvas, few of which are extant. Bramer is one of the most intriguing personalities in seventeenth-century Dutch art.


Political career.

Reda became a member of the centre-left Social Democratic Party of Germany when she was 16 years old. She studied politics and publicity sciences at the University of Mainz. In 2009, Reda started to become active for the national Pirate Party and from 2010 to 2012 she was chairperson of the Young Pirates (""). In 2013, she was one of the co-founders of the Young Pirates of Europe. In January 2014, she was chosen to top the list of the candidates for the European Elections for the Pirate Party Germany, who subsequently won one seat.  In the European Parliament, Reda joined the Greens/EFA group. She is a member of the Legal Affairs committee as well as a substitute member of the Internal Market and Consumer Protection and Petitions committees. She is on the Steering Committee of the Digital Agenda intergroup, a forum of MEPs interested in digital issues.  On 27 March 2019, she announced in an online video that she had left the Pirate Party, protesting the fact that Gilles Bordelais had been admitted as a candidate in the European elections while being under investigation for sexual harassment.

Copyright reform.

She has declared that copyright reform will be her focus for the legislative term.  In November 2014, Reda was named rapporteur of the Parliament's review of 2001's Copyright Directive. Her draft report recommended the EU-wide harmonisation of copyright exceptions, a reduction in term length, broad exceptions for educational purposes and a strengthening of authors' negotiating position in relation to publishers, among other measures.  Stakeholder reaction varied as the German artist coalition generally welcomed the draft while the French collecting society said it was "unacceptable"; author and copyright activist Cory Doctorow called the proposals "amazingly sensible", while former Swedish Pirate MEP Amelia Andersdotter criticised them as too conservative.  In 2015, Reda's report was passed by the legal affairs committee, but with an amendment that recommended restricting freedom of panorama in Europe. Reda strongly opposed this amendment and campaigned against it. The amendment was later voted down by the plenary of the European Parliament.

Julia Reda (born 30 November 1986) is a German researcher and politician and was Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Germany. She was a member of the Pirate Party Germany until 27 March 2019, part of The Greens–European Free Alliance. She has been Vice-President of the Greens/EFA group since 2014. She was also previously the president of Young Pirates of Europe. After the 2019 European Parliament election Reda was succeeded by Dr. Patrick Breyer (Pirate Party Germany) and three pirate MEPs from the Czech Pirate Party.


Composition history.

Composed after the completion of "The Queen of Spades", Tchaikovsky worried that he had lost his creative inspiration after such a large project. He started "Iolanta" with the final duet in June 1891, and despite his worries, finished composition in September and orchestration in November. The public reception was quite favorable, though Tchaikovsky was disappointed and felt he was repeating himself, especially when compared to his earlier work, "The Enchantress".

Performance history.

The world premiere took place on 18 December (6 December O.S.) 1892 at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg. It was conducted by Eduard Nápravník and sets were designed by Mikhail Bocharov. The premiere of the opera shared a double bill with the composer's last ballet, "The Nutcracker". A 1997 two-act version of "Iolanta" is performed regularly at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, and in Belarus.  Its first performance outside Russia was in Hamburg on 3 January 1893, with Gustav Mahler conducting. Mahler also conducted the Vienna premiere on 22 March 1900. In New York City it has been produced in 1997 and 2011 by Dicapo Opera. In 2015, "Iolanta" was performed for the first time at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, with Anna Netrebko in the title role.  There are only a few recordings of the opera, although Robert's aria has been recorded and performed in concerts frequently. A 1963 performance was filmed in Riga and released overseas in 1974.

Instrumentation.

The instrumentation requires the following forces:

Synopsis.

"Time": 15th century  "Place": Mountains of southern France

Scene 1.

Princess Iolanta has been blind from birth. No one has ever told her (nor does she know) that she is a princess. She lives in a beautiful enclosed garden on the king's estate, secluded from the world, in the care of Bertrand and Martha. Her attendants bring flowers and sing to her. She declares her sadness, and her vague sense that she is missing something important that other people can experience. Her father, King René insists that she not discover she is blind, or that her betrothed, Duke Robert, find out about this.

Scene 2.

After announcing the king's arrival, Alméric is warned by Bertrand not to speak of light with Iolanta or to reveal that Iolanta's father is the king. The king arrives with Ibn-Hakia, a famed Moorish physician who states that Iolanta can be cured, but the physical cure will only work if she is psychologically prepared by being made aware of her own blindness. Ibn-Hakia sings the monologue "Two worlds", explaining the interdependence of the mind and the body within the divinely ordained universe, which merges spirit and matter. The king refuses the treatment, fearing for Iolanta's happiness if the cure should fail after she has learned what she is missing.

Scene 3.

Robert arrives at the court with his friend Count Vaudémont. Robert tells Vaudémont that he wishes to avoid the marriage as he has fallen in love with Countess Matilde. He sings of his love in his aria "Who can compare with my Mathilde" (Кто может сравниться с Матильдой моей). Vaudémont finds the entrance to Iolanta's secret garden, ignoring the sign which threatens death to anyone who enters. He sees the sleeping Iolanta, without realising who she is and instantly falls in love. Robert, astounded by his friend's behavior, is convinced she is a sorceress who has bewitched Vaudémont. He tells him to leave, but Vaudémont is too entranced. Robert departs to bring troops to rescue him. Iolanta awakes and Vaudémont, who asks her to give him a red rose as a keepsake, realizes she is blind when she twice offers him a white one. She has no concept of light, vision or blindness. They fall in love, after he explains light and color to her.

Scene 4.

The couple is discovered by the king. Vaudémont pledges his love, whether Iolanta is blind or not. Ibn-Hakia tells the king that as Iolanta is now aware of her blindness, the treatment might be a success. Iolanta who has no will to see, is unsure therefore whether she should agree to treatment or not. Ibn-Hakia points out that the lack of will proves that, without inner desire, change cannot take place.  After Vaudémont admits seeing the warning sign at the garden entrance, the furious king threatens to execute him for revealing the truth to Iolanta. He tells Iolanta Vaudémont will die if the physician fails to restore her sight, in the hope that this will restore her will. Iolanta is horrified, and agrees to the treatment. After Ibn-Hakia leaves with Iolanta, the king explains to Vaudémont that he was feigning in order to motivate Iolanta. Robert returns with his troops. He admits to the king he has fallen in love with another, but is still willing to go ahead with the agreed marriage. The king cancels the wedding contract, and gives Iolanta to Vaudémont. Ibn-Hakia and Iolanta return. The treatment has worked and Iolanta can see. At first uncertain of her new gift, she eventually sings of the magical new world now visible to her. The court rejoices.

Recordings.

Audio  Video

Iolanta, Op. 69, () is a lyric opera in one act by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. It was the last opera he composed. The libretto was written by the composer's brother Modest Tchaikovsky, and is based on the Danish play "" ("King René's Daughter") by Henrik Hertz, a romanticised account of the life of Yolande de Bar. In the original Danish play, the spelling of the princess's name was "Iolanthe", later adopted for the otherwise unrelated Gilbert and Sullivan operetta of that name. The play was translated by Fyodor Miller and adapted by Vladimir Zotov. The opera received its premiere on 18 December 1892 in Saint Petersburg.


History.

Formation and "I Love You." (2011–2013).

The band members chose the British spelling of "neighbourhood" on the advice of their manager, in order to distinguish themselves from a band already using the American spelling.  In early 2012, The Neighbourhood released "Female Robbery" and "Sweater Weather". In May 2012, the band unveiled their debut self-released extended play titled "I'm Sorry..." for free download, produced by Justyn Pilbrow. In December 2012, The Neighbourhood released their second EP, "Thank You,".  The band performed at Coachella in 2013, anticipating their debut album "I Love You.", which was premiered on April 16, 2013, via Rolling Stone and officially released on April 23, 2013, via Columbia Records. It debuted at number 39 on the US Billboard 200 albums chart, selling 9,000 units in its first week. It was preceded by the lead single "Sweater Weather", which music video was released on March 5, 2013. They made their first televised performance of the song on June 27, 2013, at "Jimmy Kimmel Live". "Sweater Weather" topped the charts in early June 2013, reaching number one on "Billboard" Alternative Songs chart and breaking the top ten on "Billboard" Heatseekers Songs chart.  The band went on tour opening for Imagine Dragons in July and September 2013. The Neighbourhood also made two appearances in Eastern Canada during the summer of 2013. They played as one of the headliners of Toronto's Edgefest on July 31, 2013, and then a few days later played at Canada's largest music festival, Osheaga, in Montreal on August 4. The Neighbourhood performed at Atlanta's Music Midtown on September 21, 2013.

"#000000 & #FFFFFF" and "Wiped Out!" (2014–2015).

On January 16, 2014, the band revealed via social media that drummer Bryan Sammis was leaving the band.  In April 2013, The Neighbourhood announced their summer 2013 tour called The Love Collection Tour along with Lovelife, the 1975, and JMSN. as well as that they were planning the release of a mixtape. On December 10, 2013, they released a new EP called "The Love Collection". On November 28, 2014, the band finally released the project, titled "#000000 & #FFFFFF" (the HEX color codes for black and white, respectively) for free. It was hosted by DJ Drama and features guest appearances by YG, Dej Loaf, French Montana, Danny Brown, G-Eazy and others. The mixtape was officially released for streaming and download on November 22, 2017.  In August 2015, the band announced the upcoming October 30 release of their second album "Wiped Out!". It was preceded by the lead single "R.I.P. 2 My Youth" and reached the number 13 position on the US Billboard 200. The band embarked on a European tour in November 2015 and on an American tour in May and June 2016 to support the album.

"Hard", "To Imagine" and self-titled album (2017– to present).

On September 21, 2017, The Neighbourhood released the EP "Hard" which reached the number 183 position on the US Billboard 200 chart. Another EP called "To Imagine" was released on January 12, 2018. The band later announced their self-titled third studio album "The Neighbourhood," released March 9, 2018, which included tracks from the previous extended plays, including the lead single "Scary Love". After the release, the tracks from the extended plays that weren't included on the final tracklisting were collected in another EP called "Hard to Imagine". The band then released the complete edition of the album, titled "Hard To Imagine The Neighbourhood Ever Changing" which featured all songs released from "Hard", "To Imagine", "The Neighbourhood", and "Ever Changing", except the two tracks "Revenge" and "Too Serious".  On August 16, 2019 they premiered a music video along with their single, "Middle of Somewhere". On October 10, 2019, The Neighbourhood's single, "Yellow Box" was released and featured on an action game, Death Stranding. They released a lyric video for "Yellow Box" on November 7th, 2019.

Members.

Current  Former

The Neighbourhood (sometimes rendered as "THE NBHD") is an American alternative rock band formed in Newbury Park, California, in 2011. The band is composed of vocalist Jesse Rutherford, guitarists Jeremy Freedman and Zach Abels, bassist Mikey Margott, and drummer Brandon Alexander Fried. After releasing two EPs, "I'm Sorry..." and "Thank You", The Neighbourhood released its first full-length album "I Love You." on April 23, 2013, via Columbia Records. The same year, the EP "The Love Collection" was released; and in November 2014, a mixtape titled "#000000 & #FFFFFF". A second album, "Wiped Out!" was released on October 30, 2015. On March 9, 2018, a self-titled third studio album came out, preceded by the release of two EPs: "Hard" on September 22, 2017, which briefly charted on the Billboard 200, and "To Imagine" on January 12, 2018. After the release of the album, the tracks from the extended plays not included on the final tracklisting were collected in another EP, "Hard to Imagine".


Early life.

Princess Helena was born 1 June 1888 at Grünholz Manor (Thumby) in Schleswig-Holstein, Prussia, the third eldest daughter of Frederick Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and his wife Princess Karoline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg. Her father was the eldest son of Friedrich, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and a nephew of Christian IX of Denmark. Three years before the birth of Princess Helena, he had succeeded to the headship of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and the title of duke upon the death of his father in 1885.

Marriage and issue.

Princess Helena was engaged in 1908, and married Prince Harald of Denmark, fourth child and third son of Frederick VIII of Denmark and his wife Princess Louise of Sweden and Norway on 28 April 1909 at Glücksburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.  After their marriage, Prince Harald and Princess Helena lived at the Jægersborghus country house north of Copenhagen which Prince Harald had purchased in 1907. Here their five children were born between 1910 and 1923.  The only activity deemed acceptable for a female member of the royal house except representation was charity, and in 1913, Princess Helena started a campaign to found an orphanage in Gentofte. The orphanage, "Spædbørnshjemmet Danmark", was finally founded in 1923. After this, she acted as the protector of the orphanage and its funds, which was taken over by princess Caroline-Mathilde after her- the money was in 1977 to create the "Danmarksfonden", a fund for social and cultural matters.

Later life.

Princess Helena became very unpopular during World War II because of her sympathy for the German occupation and the Nazi party after the German occupation of Denmark in 1940. The Danish resistance movement stated that Princess Helena was the only member of the Danish royal house to have betrayed Denmark: she received and entertained Germans in her home, attended parties hosted by the Germans at Gesandtskab and had been introduced to Danish collaborationists by the Danish noblewoman Ebba Lerche. Her actions were so unpopular that, on some occasions, enraged Danes had even broken the windows of her limousine. Because of her professed support for the Germans, she was reportedly not on speaking terms with her sons, who were embarrassed by her behaviour. Even her husband had taken to avoiding the dining room when she was hosting him. One of her own servants, Paul Dall, responsible for setting her table, was a contact of the German Abwehr in Copenhagen, and was after the war judged guilty as a spy.  On 18 January 1942 she participated in the memorial service for an SS officer, C.E. von Schalburg, who had died on the Russian front, a service which the monarch refused to attend. In 1942, Helena made efforts to convince Prince Knud of Denmark to persuade the monarch to allow Nazi members in to the Danish government.  Princess Helena is not considered to have been a regular German agent, but rather an informer and a contact on informal basis. After the war, owing to Princess Helena being a member of the Royal house, she was not brought to trial, as any punishment was at the discretion of the King. He instead exiled her from Denmark on 30 May 1945 and placed under house arrest at the Glücksburg Castle in Germany.  She was allowed to return to Denmark in 1947, when Prince Harald fell gravely ill. She stayed with her spouse until his death two years later. Prince Harald died on 30 March 1949 in Copenhagen. Princess Helena survived her husband by 13 years and died on 30 June 1962 in Hellerup, Denmark. She was buried at Roskilde Cathedral.

Issue.

Helena and Harald had five children:

Princess Helena Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (; 1 June 1888 - 30 June 1962) was the third eldest daughter of Friedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and his wife Princess Karoline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg. She was a princess of Denmark through her marriage within the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg to Prince Harald of Denmark. Princess Helena was a Nazi sympathiser during World War II and was after the war exiled from Denmark, but eventually allowed to return, where she died.


Background.

Born in Rehovot during the Mandate era, Orlev studied humanities and social sciences at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, before training to be a teacher at Moreshet Yaakov College. He later worked as Director General of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, and Director General of the Ministry of Education and Culture. Orlev lives in Jerusalem's Givat Mordechai neighborhood with his wife, Nira. They have four children.  During his national service in the Israel Defense Forces, he reached the rank of Sergeant. Orlev fought in the Six-Day War, participating in the capture of East Jerusalem. He sustained a knee injury and underwent rehabilitation for two years. During the Yom Kippur War, Orlev served in a stronghold on the Bar-Lev Line. During the Egyptian attack on the first day of the war, Orlev took charge of the soldiers in his outpost after the commander was wounded. Under his command, his unit repelled Egyptian attempts to capture the position, and he organized the evacuation from the stronghold. For this, he was awarded a Medal of Distinguished Service. He later served as a reservist during the 1982 Lebanon War.

Political career.

He was first elected to the Knesset in the 1999 elections on the National Religious Party list. After being re-elected in the 2003 elections, Orlev was appointed Minister of Welfare and Social Services in Ariel Sharon's government. During the crisis in the party over the Gaza disengagement plan, Orlev led the camp which believed staying in the government, rather than leaving the coalition, was the best option. In response, NRP leader Effi Eitam called Orlev a "Meimadnik". When Eitam and Yitzhak Levy quit the government in 2004, Orlev and many NRP members refused to leave the coalition. Orlev then succeeded in taking control of the party, resulting in Eitam and Levy leaving to form the Renewed Religious National Zionist Party (later renamed Ahi), which would later join the National Union.  Orlev was re-elected in the 2006 elections. Prior to the 2009 elections the NRP was dissolved and its members joined the Jewish Home. Orlev won second place on the new party's list, and retained his seat in the subsequent elections.  Orlev became known for several controversial statements and legislative proposal. In 2009 the Knesset debated a Private Members Bill proposed by Orlev, providing for imprisonment of anyone who denied that Israel was a Jewish and democratic state. The bill passed its preliminary reading. Orlev was criticized for proposing a bill that would mandate divorced fathers to pay child support until their children reached age 22, though he later retracted and stated he would not pursue the bill. In 2012, he called for the Third Temple to be built in Jerusalem, as well as legislation to protect the project from prosecution and the "hostile, secular, left-wing media". He also proposed a Private Members Bill to override an Israeli Supreme Court ruling ordering the demolition five buildings in an Israeli settlement.  Orlev did not run in the 2013 elections.  He is a co-president of the international Mizrachi movement, which the National Religious Party and its successor Jewish Home represents in the political arena.

Zevulun Orlev (, born 9 November 1945) is an Israeli politician and a former Knesset member, Minister of Welfare & Social Services and leader of the National Religious Party. Orlev is a decorated war hero who received the Medal of Distinguished Service in the Yom Kippur War.


Background.

After the Polish–Soviet War, the Polish authorities pursued a policy of "equal distance" between Germany and the Soviet Union. Most Polish politicians, both on the left and on the right, believed that Poland should rely mostly on the crucial Franco-Polish Military Alliance, which dated back to World War I, and not support either Germany or the Soviet Union.  To normalise bilateral contacts with the Soviet Union, talks were started in January 1926 to prepare a non-aggression pact to fortify the Polish gains of the Peace of Riga that was to be balanced by a similar pact signed with Germany. However, the talks with Germany were not started, and the Polish–Soviet talks were interrupted in June 1927, when Britain broke off diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union and Soviet plenipotentiary Pyotr Voykov was killed in Warsaw. Instead, Poland applied to the Briand-Kellogg Pact of 1928.  Polish-Soviet negotiations were resumed in Moscow.in 1931. The pact was finally signed on July 25, 1932, effective for three years. Ratifications were exchanged in Warsaw on December 23, 1932, and the pact went into effect on the same day. It was registered in League of Nations Treaty Series on January 9, 1933.  On May 5, 1934, it was extended to December 31, 1945 without amendment.

Terms.

Both sides agreed to renounce violence in bilateral relations, to resolve their problems through negotiations and to forgo any armed conflict or alliances aimed at the other side.

Aftermath.

On September 23, 1938, the Soviet Union sent a note to the Polish government to inform it that the pact would be considered null and void if Poland participated in the occupation of Czechoslovakia. However, the threat was not carried out since the Soviet government stated on October 31, after Poland had occupied Zaolzie area, that the pact remained in force, and the pact was reaffirmed by the two powers on November 26, 1938 (see ). It was finally broken by the Soviets on September 17, 1939, when the Soviet and German jointly invaded Poland, in accordance with the secret protocols of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact.  The pact was considered at the time as a major success of Polish diplomacy, which had been greatly weakened by the toll war with Germany, the renouncement of parts of the Treaty of Versailles and the loosened ties to France. The pact also reinforced the Polish negotiating position with Germany, which finally resulted in the signing of the German–Polish Non-Aggression Pact 18 months later.

The Soviet–Polish Non-Aggression Pact (,, translitterated in "Dogovor o nenapadenii mezhdu SSSR i Pol'shey") was an non-aggression pact signed in 1932 by representatives of Poland and the Soviet Union. The pact was unilaterally broken by the Soviet Union on September 17, 1939, during the Soviet invasion of Poland.


The car.

For the first season, all teams were supplied an electric racing car built by Spark Racing Technology, called the Spark-Renault SRT 01E. The chassis was designed by Dallara, with an electric motor developed by McLaren (the same as that used in its P1 supercar), a battery system created by Williams Grand Prix Engineering and a Hewland five-speed gearbox. Michelin were the official tyre supplier. 42 electric cars were ordered by the FIA.

Teams and drivers.

For the 2014–15 season, 10 teams contested the series. Each team fielded two drivers; each driver had two cars. That meant that 40 cars were required by the teams. All teams were ostensibly based at the sport's technical headquarters at the Donington Park race circuit, in the United Kingdom, although some teams had a greater presence there than others. Formula E organiser FEH itself has offices there for administration and operations staff.  All ten teams were confirmed to race in April 2014. However, in June 2014, Drayson Racing pulled out of the championship, with its entry taken by Trulli, a new team formed by former Formula One driver Jarno Trulli. Drayson entered the team in a supply and sponsorship arrangement, to be its principal technology partner.

Calendar.

The season included 11 races, held between September 2014 and June 2015. The initial calendar had ten races and was approved by the FIA World Motor Sport Council in December 2013. However, in April 2014, changes were made to the calendar including dropping Rio de Janeiro, which had previously replaced Hong Kong, and moving the Los Angeles round to 4 April. On 22 May 2014, Los Angeles County officials announced that their race would take place away on a modified version of the Long Beach street circuit. On 3 February 2015, it was revealed that a race would be held in Moscow on 6 June, to restore the calendar to its original schedule of ten races. On 19 February 2015, it was announced that the final round in London would be a double-header, expanding the calendar to eleven races.  Championship points were awarded as follows:

Championship standings.

Each driver's lowest-scoring round was dropped from their total; however, rounds where the driver was excluded from the race could not be dropped.  † – Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.

Teams' Championship.

The points system was the same as the Drivers' Championship, except that all rounds counted towards the total.  † – Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.

The 2014–15 FIA Formula E season was the inaugural season of a new FIA championship for electrically powered cars. It began on 13 September 2014 at Beijing in China and finished on 28 June 2015 in London after eleven races. Nelson Piquet Jr. came first in the overall standings, and so became the first ever Formula E champion.


History.

Poalei Agudas Izrael was founded in 1922 in Lodz, Poland as a workers affiliate of Agudas Izrael of Poland. As well as being a trade union, they fielded candidates in the Polish elections in the interwar period.  With the establishment of the State of Israel, Poalei Agudat Yisrael became an ultra-orthodox workers' political party associated with Agudat Yisrael. They were also part of the Histadrut.  In the elections for the first Knesset, the party ran on a joint list with the other religious parties of the time, Agudat Yisrael, Mizrachi and Hapoel HaMizrachi. The group was called the United Religious Front and won 16 seats. They joined David Ben-Gurion's coalition government alongside Mapai, the Progressive Party, the Sephardim and Oriental Communities and the Democratic List of Nazareth.  However, the grouping created problems in the governing coalition due to its differing attitude to education in the new immigrant camps and the religious education system. They also demanded that Ben-Gurion close the Supply and Rationing Ministry and appoint a businessman as Minister for Trade and Industry. As a result, Ben-Gurion resigned on 15 October 1950. After the differences were resolved, Ben-Gurion formed the second government on 1 November 1950, with the United Religious Front retaining their place in the coalition.  In the 1951 elections, the United Religious Front disbanded into its separate parties, and Poalei Agudat Yisrael fought the election alone. They won two seats and were included in Ben-Gurion's coalition. However, they helped bring down the third government after disagreeing with Ben-Gurion on religious education issues. They were not included in the fourth, fifth or sixth governments.  For the 1955 elections, the party joined with Agudat Yisrael to form the Religious Torah Front, which won six seats. They did not participate in the coalitions of the sixth or seventh governments.  In the 1959 elections they once again ran under the Religious Torah Front banner, which won six seats. Again, they did not join the governing coalition. On 9 August 1960 the alliance split, with Poalei Agudat Yisrael taking two of the six seats. After the split, Poalei Agudat Yisrael joined the coalition and Binyamin Mintz was made Minister of Postal Services.  In the 1961 election the party retained its two seats, and were coalition partners in the ninth, tenth and eleventh governments. In the 1965 election they again won two seats and joined the twelfth government, which collapsed when Levi Eshkol died. Poalei Agudat Yisrael left the coalition when Golda Meir took over as leader of the thirteenth government. In the 1969 elections the party retained its two seats, but did not join the governing coalition.  For the 1973 elections the party joined with Agudat Yisrael again to recreate the Religious Torah Front, which won five seats. However, the faction split on 15 March 1977, with Poalei Agudat Yisrael taking two of the five seats. In the 1977 elections the party won only one seat. In the next elections in 1981 it failed to cross the electoral threshold by 2,284 votes.  The party's name was briefly resuscitated during the eleventh Knesset when Morasha, part of the governing coalition, split and former Poalei Agudat Yisrael member Avraham Verdiger renamed his faction Morasha – Poalei Agudat Yisrael. He merged the party into Agudat Yisrael before the 1988 elections.

Poalei Agudat Yisrael Kibutzim.

Not to be confused with the Religious Kibbutz Movement, Poalei Agudat Yisrael had two affiliate kibbutzim, Hafetz Haim and Sha'alvim.

Poalei Agudat Yisrael (, lit. "Agudat Yisrael Workers") was a trade union and Jewish political party in Poland, and was a minor political party in Israel. It was also known as PAI or PAGI, its Hebrew acronym (Hebrew: or ).


Early life.

Hery Rajaonarimampianina was born to a modest family. He lived in Sabotsy Namehana, neighborhood of Antananarivo, Madagascar. In 1982, Rajaonarimampianina obtained an MBA at the "Etablissement d’Enseignement Supérieur de Droit, d’Economie, de Gestion et de Sciences Sociales (EESDEGS) – Université d’Ankatso Antananarivo. Then, he moved to Canada to complete his training in finance and accounting at Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, receiving a postgraduate diploma (DEA) in accounting science in 1986. Rajaonarimampianina obtained the Canadian Diploma of Accounting from the Certified General Accountant’s Association (C.G.A) in 1991.  In 1991, Rajaonarimampianina went back to Madagascar and worked as an accountant. He also became the studies director of the National Institute for Business Administration and Accounting Science (INSCAE) in Antananarivo (Madagascar) and teacher assistant at the Antananarivo University (Madagascar) and at the Institut of Business Administration (IAE) of the Metz University (France).  In 1995, Rajaonarimampianina created the accountant firm Auditeurs Associes – C.G.A, in Antananarivo. With 50 associates, the firm operates throughout Madagascar for private commercial companies both domestic and international. It also assists entities in their projects supported by international fundraisers.  In 2003 he was elected President of the "Ordre des Experts Comptables et Commissaires aux Comptes de Madagascar" (Professional Order of Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditors of Madagascar) and appointed Vice-Président of the "Conseil Supérieur de la Comptabilité" (Superior Accounting Council) and counsel of the "Comité pour la Sauvegarde de l’Intégrité" (Committee for the Safeguarding of the Integrity).

Political career.

In 2009, Rajaonarimampianina became Minister of Finance and Budget, at a time marked by the withdrawal of the main international funders of Madagascar since 2008.

2013 presidential election.

Rajaonarimampianina set up the political organisation "Hery Vaovao hoan'i Madagasikara" in 2013 ("New Forces for Madagascar") and ran for Presidency with 32 other competitors. His major opponents were Andry Nirina Rajoelina from the ruling political party Tanora Gasy Vonona (TGV), the proxy of the former président Marc Ravalomanana, Jean-Louis Robinson from Antoko ny Vahoaka Aloha No Andrianina (AVANA) party and two former Prime Ministers of the High Transitional Authority Albert Camille Vital and Roindefo Zafitsimivalo Monja.  After the first round Rajaonarimampianina received 15.62%, second to Robinson. The sum of all opponents of former President Ravalomanana's party received 55% of the vote.  Before the second round, he gathered his party members and supporters in many rallies, including Roland Ratsiraka, nephew of former President Didier Ratsiraka and Pierrot Rajaonarivelo. He also gained support from Andry Rajoelina, the sitting President of the High Transitional Authority, after it was determined that Rajoelina was ineligible to run because he had not submitted his candidacy documents in time.  In the second round, Hery Rajaonarimampianina quickly led the first preliminary results of the election established by the Independent National Electoral Commission of the Transition (CENIT) in elections that international observers deemed "free, transparent, reliable and credible".

Impeachment attempt.

On 26 May 2015, the Parliament of Madagascar voted to remove the president from office, due to "alleged constitutional violations and general incompetence". The constitutional court disallowed the motion under the grounds the accusations were unfounded and then inadmissible.

Religion and politics.

Rajaonarimampianina has been accused by critics of threatening Madagascar's secular constitution by sponsoring church events and often appearing at churches at rallies. This is not entirely new in Madagascar's history as Rajaonarimapianina's predecessor Marc Ravalomanana was a senior member of the FJKM and Andry Rajoelina was a devout Catholic, both using events of their respective denominations to boost support. Rajaonarimampianina has only appeared and sponsored the events of denominations in Madagascar that have a large number of adherents, namely the Catholic Church, the Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar, the Malagasy Lutheran Church, and the Anglican Church, while ignoring other smaller religious denominations such as the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Jehovah's Witnesses, and the country's Muslim minority which have fewer followers.

2018 presidential election.

On 8 September 2018 Rajaonarimampianina officially resigned from the presidential office and declared his candidacy for the 2018 election. According to the Malagasy constitution incumbent candidates must resign at least 60 days before in order to be eligible for reelection. On his last official day of his term Rajaonarimampianina named new army generals and appointed new ambassadors to China and Russia.

Hery Martial Rajaonarimampianina Rakotoarimanana (; ; born November 6, 1958) is a Malagasy politician who was President of Madagascar from January 2014 to September 2018, resigning to run for re-election. Previously he served as Minister of Finance under President Andry Rajoelina, and he was the Rajoelina political movement's candidate in the 2013 presidential election. He won the vote in a second round, defeating Jean-Louis Robinson, the candidate of Marc Ravalomanana's party. Once he was elected, Rajaonarimampianina held the world record of the head of state with the longest name (44 characters) as well as family name (19 characters).


Performance history.

Bouffes on tour staged "Mesdames de la Halle" in Vienna with Lucille Tostée as Croûte-au-pot, then in Budapest, where a Hungarian version soon followed.  It was performed in in 1858, Brussels in 1860, and Monte Carlo in 1908. It was also produced at the Théâtre des Arts on 3 April 1913, conducted by Gabriel Grovlez, with a cast including Lucy Vauthrin, Marcelle Devries and Maurice Lamy. It was mounted at the Paris Opéra-Comique on 4 May 1940 with René Hérent, Lillie Grandval and Roger Bourdin, conducted by Gustave Cloëz. "Mesdames de la Halle" was performed as part of a triple bill entitled ‘Vive Offenbach’ with "Pomme d'api" and "M. Choufleuri restera chez lui le..." at the Opéra-Comique in December 1979, revived the following year and in 1983. "Mesdames de la Halle" was performed as part of a double bill with "Bagatelle" by the non-profit opera troupe New Moon Opera Company in December 2017 in Chicago, Illinois.

Synopsis.

At the Paris fruit and vegetable market vendors of all kinds are plying for custom. The drum major, Raflafla, enters with some troops and sings a flattering song to the market women. Madou and Beurrefondu are not interested; they are after the young kitchen boy Croûte-au-pot, for whom Mesdames Poiretapée, Madou and Beurrefondue have all fallen. Croûte-au-pot enters, but singing of his love for the fruit seller Ciboulette. Madou and Beurrefondu press their wares on him, but when he upturns his basket, Raflafla re-enters and takes Croûte-au-pot off in a barrow. Madou and Beurrefondu fight with Poiretapée, which attracts the attention of the commissaire, the customers and Ciboulette; when the quarreling women have been led away, Ciboulette introduces herself, in song. When Raflafla tries to sweet-talk her she repulses him, despite the fact that her heart always misses a beat when she meets him. Poiretapée has bribed the commissaire with a drink and comes back to the market where Raflafla tries it on with her, by singing a ballad to the moon. Croûte-au-pot comes in, having jumped out of a window at the jail, and he and Ciboulette sing a happy duet.  Beurrefondu re-enters, disapproving of Ciboulette's liaison with the kitchen-boy. Ciboulette says that as an orphan the consent of her parents will be difficult to obtain. She tells Beurrefondu that her father was a sergeant of guards, and she is eighteen, female and from Vaugirard. Beurrefondu faints into the fountain, and when dragged out claims Ciboulette as her daughter. When Beurrefondu recounts this to Madou she too faints in the fountain leading to a septet over the dilemma. Ciboulette next produces a sealed letter she has kept next to her heart since she was three months old; when Croûte-au-pot reads it out Raflafla and Poiretapée both faint, thus solving the mystery of her parents, who consent to her marriage. The curtain falls with all acclaiming the 'unequalled beauties – the ladies of la Halle'.

Mesdames de la Halle is an opérette bouffe in one act by Jacques Offenbach, with a libretto by Armand Lapointe. It was first performed at the Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens, Paris on 3 March 1858. and was the first work of Offenbach's at the Bouffes with a chorus and a large cast. Gänzl describes the piece as "a delicious piece of Parisian bouffonerie"


Sources and applications.

UFPs are both manufactured and naturally occurring. Hot volcanic lava, ocean spray, and smoke are common natural UFPs sources. UFPs can be intentionally fabricated as are fine particles to serve a vast range of applications in both medicine and technology. Other UFPs are byproducts, like emissions, from specific processes, combustion reactions, or equipment such as printer toner and automobile exhaust. In 2014, an air quality study found harmful ultrafine particles from the takeoffs and landings at Los Angeles International Airport to be of much greater magnitude than previously thought. There are a multitude of indoor sources that include but are not limited to laser printers, fax machines, photocopiers, the peeling of citrus fruits, cooking, tobacco smoke, penetration of contaminated outdoor air, chimney cracks and vacuum cleaners.  UFPs have a variety of applications in the medical and technology fields. They are used in diagnostic imagining, and novel drug delivery systems that include targeting the circulatory system, and or passage of the blood brain barrier to name just a few. Certain UFPs like silver based nanostructures have antimicrobial properties that are exploited in wound healing and internal instrumental coatings among other uses, in order to prevent infections. In the area of technology, carbon based UFPs have a plethora of applications in computers. This includes the use of graphene and carbon nanotubes in electronic as well as other computer and circuitry components. Some UFPs have characteristics similar to gas or liquid and are useful in powders or lubricants.

Exposure, risk, and health effects.

The main exposure to UFPs is through inhalation. Owing to their size, UFPs are considered to be respirable particles. Contrary to the behaviour of inhaled PM and PM, ultrafine particles are deposited in the lungs, where they have the ability to penetrate tissue and undergo interstitialization, or to be absorbed directly into the bloodstream — and therefore are not easily removed from the body and may have immediate effect. Exposure to UFPs, even if components are not very toxic, may cause oxidative stress, inflammatory mediator release, and could induce heart disease, lung disease, and other systemic effects.  A robust association has been observed between fine particulate levels and lung cancer, and cardiopulmonary disease. The exact mechanism through which UFP exposure leads to health effects remains to be elucidated, but effects on Blood pressure may play a role. It has recently been reported that UFP is associated with an increase in blood pressure in schoolchildren with the smallest particles inducing the largest effect.  There is a range of potential human exposures that include occupational, due to the direct manufacturing process or a byproduct from an industrial or office environment, as well as incidental, from contaminated outdoor air and other byproduct emissions. In order to quantify exposure and risk, both "in vivo" and "in vitro" studies of various UFP species are currently being done using a variety of animal models including mouse, rat, and fish. These studies aim to establish toxicological profiles necessary for risk assessment, risk management, and potential regulation and legislation.

Regulation and legislation.

As the nanotechnology industry has grown, nanoparticles have brought UFPs more public and regulatory attention. UFP risk assessment research is still in the very early stages. There are continuing debates about whether to regulate UFPs and how to research and manage the health risks they may pose. As of March 19, 2008, the EPA does not yet regulate or research ultrafine particles, but has drafted a Nanomaterial Research Strategy, open for independent, external peer review beginning February 7, 2008 (Panel review on April 11, 2008). There is also debate about how the European Union (EU) should regulate UFPs.

Political disputes.

There is political dispute between China and South Korea on Ultrafine dust. South Korea claims that about 80% of ultrafine dust comes from China, and China and South Korea should cooperate to reduce the level of fine dust. China, however, argues that Chinese government have already implemented its policy regarding ecological environment. According to China’s government, it’s quality of air has been improved more than 40% since 2013. However, the air pollution in South Korea got worse. Therefore, the dispute between China and South Korea has become political. In March 2019, Seoul Research Institute of Public Health and Environment said that 50% to 70% of the fine dust is from China, therefore China is responsible for the air pollution in South Korea. This dispute provokes dispute among citizens as well. In July 2014, China's paramount leader Xi Jinping and the South Korean government agreed to enforce Korea-China Cooperative Project, regarding Sharing of observation data on air pollutions, joint research on an air pollution forecast model and air pollution source identification, and human resources exchanges, etc. Followed by this agreement, in 2018, China and South Korea signed China-Korea Environmental Cooperation Plan to resolute environmental issues. China Research Academy of Environmental Studies (CRAES) in Beijing is developing a building for China-Korea Environmental Cooperation Center including office building and laboratory building. Based on this cooperation, South Korea already sent 10 experts on environments to China for research, and China will also send more experts for long-term research. By this bilateral relations, China and Republic of Korea are seeking resolution on air pollution in North East Asia region, and seeks international security.

Ultrafine particles (UFPs) are particulate matter of nanoscale size (less than 0.1 μm or 100 nm in diameter). Regulations do not exist for this size class of ambient air pollution particles, which are far smaller than the regulated PM and PM particle classes and are believed to have several more aggressive health implications than those classes of larger particulates. In the EU UFP's in ambient air are empirically defined by a technical specification. The important detail is the definition of size, stated: "The lower and upper sizes considered within this document are 7 nm and a few micrometres, respectively". Although the most common referral to UFP is "less than 0.1μm", this is incorrect for ambient air in the EU.


Plot.

A spin-off of Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D. focuses on the fictional 21st District, which houses patrol officers and the department's elite Intelligence Unit, led by Detective Sergeant Hank Voight (Jason Beghe). The first three seasons and the first half of season four focuses on both the patrol and Intelligence officers, and shifts to focus on the Intelligence Unit from the second half of season four on.

Episodes.

Spin-off.

At the 2016 Television Critics Association winter press tour, NBC Entertainment president Jennifer Salke revealed that the network had discussions with Dick Wolf about a fourth series in the "Chicago" franchise centered on the legal system. The working title was "Chicago Law". Salke has since confirmed that the series was officially in development. The series was a spin-off of "Chicago P.D." by introducing Assistant State's Attorney (ASA) characters in the 21st episode of "P.D."s third season. Philip Winchester was the first to be cast. Nazneen Contractor joined the series in March 2016 and the title was changed to "Chicago Justice". "Rocky" alum Carl Weathers played Cook County State's Attorney Mark Jefferies, while Joelle Carter also starred. Lorraine Toussaint reprised her role as defense attorney Shambala Green, who appeared in seven episodes of "Law & Order". On May 12, 2016, NBC gave "Chicago Justice" a series order. On September 28, it was reported that Jon Seda would join the cast and that his character Antonio would become an investigator for the DA's office. The series ran from March 1, to May 14, 2017. In July 2017, it was announced that Seda would rejoin "Chicago P.D." full-time.

Production.

On March 27, 2013, it was reported that NBC was considering plans for a spin-off of "Chicago Fire". Deadline Hollywood revealed that the proposed spin-off would involve the Chicago Police Department, and would be created and executive produced by Dick Wolf, Derek Haas, Michael Brandt, and Matt Olmstead. On May 10, 2013, NBC picked up the show for the 2013–14 United States network television schedule. On May 12, 2013, the show was announced as an unscheduled midseason replacement. The show premiered on January 8, 2014.  It came to light in November 2017 that Bush had left the show because of Beghe's behavior behind the scenes. Bush's claims led NBC to open an investigation into Beghe's behavior. On November 21, 2017, Deadline reported that Beghe was investigated for behavior that was considered overly aggressive and may have been sexual harassment. Beghe released a statement in which he admitted to engaging in aggressive behavior and apologized for it.  The seventh season premiered on September 25, 2019.

Filming.

The series is filmed entirely in Chicago. The exterior of the station house is the Old Maxwell Street Police Station (943 West Maxwell Street) and is the same location that was used in the series "Hill Street Blues". It is located about half a mile from the firehouse location of "Chicago Fire" at 1360 S. Blue Island Ave.  On March 13, 2020, Universal Television production of the seventh season was shut down due to the impact of corona-virus pandemic.

Casting.

Cast members include Jason Beghe as the Intelligence team Sergeant Hank Voight and Jon Seda as Detective Antonio Dawson. Actors Tania Raymonde, Kelly Blatz, Scott Eastwood, and Melissa Sagemiller were initially cast as well.  However, as the show went into pre-production, the cast began to change. On June 13, 2013, it was announced that Melissa Sagemiller would no longer be a part of the show and Jesse Lee Soffer officially joined the cast as a series regular. On August 23, 2013, Patrick Flueger and "One Tree Hill" star Sophia Bush joined the cast as Officer Adam Ruzek and Detective Erin Lindsay, respectively. Marina Squerciati joined the cast on August 28, 2013. On August 30, Elias Koteas became a regular. Archie Kao was announced as a regular on September 27, 2013. On October 21, 2013, Stella Maeve was cast in a recurring role as Nadia, a pretty 18-year-old escort who is addicted to heroin and goes through a very difficult withdrawal. Sydney Tamiia Poitier was announced as a guest star in December 2013. On December 20, 2013, it was announced that both Eastwood and Raymonde had departed the series over creative differences.  In September 2016, it was reported that Seda would move to the legal drama spin-off "Chicago Justice" as a regular. In May 2017, it was announced that Bush would depart the series after four seasons. After "Chicago Justice"s cancellation, in July 2017 it was announced that Seda would move back to "Chicago P.D." as a series regular for season five. In July 2017, Tracy Spiridakos was promoted to series regular as Det. Hailey Upton after a two-episode guest stint in season four. On April 19, 2019, NBC announced that Seda would leave the series again at the end of the sixth season.

Reception.

Reviews.

"Chicago P.D." has received mixed reviews from critics. Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, gives the drama a 50% rating based on 21 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Rotten Tomatoes gives season 1 a rating of 57% based on reviews from 28 critics.  Ray Rahman of "Entertainment Weekly" gave the drama a favorable review: "It's hard to imagine the series capturing the compelling, can't-watch-just-one magic that makes the "Law & Order" franchise so marathonable, but it moves just fast enough to keep you from changing the channel in search of an SVU re-run." Alessandra Stanley of "The New York Times" also gave the series a positive review when it premiered on January 8: ""Chicago P.D." is, in many ways, a throwback to an earlier, male-dominated era of crime shows, yet it carves out room for strong female characters who are good at their jobs and taken seriously by their colleagues." Robert Bianco of "USA Today" expressed disappointment: "When did Wolf's work, which used to show some grace and wit, become this ugly, plodding and crass?"

Chicago P.D. is an American police procedural drama television series created by Dick Wolf and Matt Olmstead as a part of Wolf's "Chicago" franchise. The series premiered on NBC as a mid-season replacement on January 8, 2014. The show follows the uniformed patrol officers and the Intelligence Unit of the 21st District of the Chicago Police Department as they pursue the perpetrators of the city's major street offenses. The seventh season premiered on September 25, 2019. On February 27, 2020, NBC renewed the series for an eighth, ninth and tenth season.


Story.

Heroes of Might and Magic tells the story of Lord Morglin Ironfist, who is forced to flee his homeland through a magical portal, because his cousin, Ragnar, had usurped the throne after his uncle, Ragnar's father, killed Ironfist's father, the legitimate owner of the throne.  He finds himself along with his few followers in a strange and uncharted land, called Enroth. The land is unruled but contested by Ironfist and three other warlords: the barbarian Lord Slayer, the sorceress Queen Lamanda, and the warlock Lord Alamar.  In the canonical storyline, Lord Ironfist defeats his three opponents and founds a new kingdom in Enroth. It is possible for the player to lead the other factions to victory, however this is not reflected in the following games of the Heroes of Might and Magic series.

Gameplay.

"Heroes of Might and Magic" takes place in a medieval fantasy world filled with creatures frequently associated with myth and legend. These creatures compose the military forces (troops) with which the player attempts to conquer opponents. The player leads generals through the game world at the head of armies of troops. These generals, called "heroes," provide a means to explore, attack, defeat, and acquire, the four basic principles in the game. The ultimate goal of the game is usually to capture all enemy castles and defeat all enemy heroes. However, the game comes with many different play scenarios, and some of these scenarios have unique victory conditions, such as accumulating a certain amount of gold, or finding a particular artifact.  There are four different classes of heroes and castles, each with their own units and strengths/weaknesses. The two "might" classes, Knight and Barbarian, earn skill points in attack or defense more often than in spell power or knowledge. The two "magic" classes, Sorceress and Warlock, earn skill points in spell power or knowledge more often than in attack or defense. There is also a neutral, "wandering" class of troops, including Rogues, Nomads, Ghosts (the only one that cannot be hired) and Genies.

Development.

"Heroes of Might and Magic" was first released near the end of September 1995.

Reception.

In mid-November 1995, New World Computing reported that "Heroes of Might and Magic" had shipped 100,000 copies to retailers and that sell-through was strong. The company announced that the game was "set to top the 100,000 mark in unit sales". By October 1997, the combined sales of "Heroes of Might and Magic", "Heroes II" and the "Price of Loyalty" expansion had surpassed 500,000 copies. The series as a whole sold 1.5 million copies by December 1999.  Andy Butcher reviewed "Heroes of Might and Magic" for "Arcane" magazine, rating it a 7 out of 10 overall. Butcher comments that "Its very simplicity, although ultimately limiting, is appealing, and the computer opponents are far from easy to beat. In terms of depth and long-term interest it's not a real challenger to MicroProse's "Master of Magic", which it resembles, but it is a whole lot simpler to get into."  A reviewer for "Next Generation" assessed that ""Heroes of Might and Magic" is part wargame, part adventure, and part sim. It seamlessly captures the best of all three genres, and presents the whole package with bright, colorful visuals." He further applauded the game for being "easy to learn, but difficult to master" and having great longevity. He scored it four out of five stars. "GameSpot" rated the game's production values as somewhat below par, and regarded the story as being thin. Nonetheless, the game was complimented for its gameplay, and received a 7.5 out of 10 overall. It received a Golden Triad Award from "Computer Game Review".  "Heroes of Might and Magic" was named 1995's best turn-based strategy game by "Computer Games Strategy Plus"—tied with "Jagged Alliance"—and best overall strategy title by "Computer Game Review" and "Computer Gaming World", tied variously with "Command & Conquer", "Gazillionaire" and "Blood Bowl". Similarly, "PC Gamer US" nominated "Heroes" for its 1995 "Best Strategy Game" award, although this prize went instead to "Command & Conquer". The editors of "Computer Gaming World" wrote, ""Heroes" will challenge you to think and plan, and it will reward you with hours of sheer pleasure. It is one of the most addictive games to come along in years."  In 1996, "Computer Gaming World" declared "Heroes of Might and Magic" the 133th-best computer game ever released. The editors called it "a brilliantly balanced game of fantasy combat".

Heroes of Might and Magic: A Strategic Quest is a turn-based strategy game developed and published by New World Computing in 1995 for DOS. A spin-off of New World Computing's "Might and Magic" series of role-playing video games, the success of "Heroes of Might and Magic" led to a number of sequels.


Biography.

Early and personal life.

Kiska was born in Poprad. He studied electrical engineering. His father was an active member of the ruling Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. He also applied for Communist party membership, but was rejected.  Kiska was married to, an educator and politician from 1985 until 2001. They had two children, Andrej Kiska (1986) and Natália Kisková (1990). The couple divorced in 2001 after 18 years of marriage.  Kiska married his second wife, Martina Kisková, in 2003. The couple have three children- - Veronika (born 2005), Viktor (born 2009), and Martin (born July 2017 during his presidency).

Career.

In 1990, after the Velvet Revolution, he moved to the United States. Later he founded "Triangel" and "Quatro", two Slovakia-based hire-purchase companies that give the buyer the possibility to pay for goods in several installments over a number of months instead of paying the full price at once.  Tax authorities accused his co-owned company KTAG (with his brother Jaroslav) of tax non-compliance and under-payments, regarding expenses for his presidential campaign. The company eventually agreed to pay the taxes and a penalty.

Tax non-compliance and legal problems.

Andrej Kiska's companies were involved in a number of tax-non compliance issues. Improperly reported income from various business activities resulted in a smaller VAT and Income tax payments.  In his personal tax filing he did not disclose personal propagation before elections performed by his company as a non-cash income, but claimed that he paid for it. Eventually tax office confirmed he did not pay, did not report non-cash income, and his company did not report income from propagation activities but fully deducted all VAT. Remaining costs additionally decreased tax base.

Philanthropy.

In 2006, Kiska co-founded a non-profit charitable organization called Dobrý anjel (translated as "Good Angel"), in which donors help families that have found themselves in a difficult financial situation as a result of a family member contracting a serious disease (such as cancer). By 2016, more than 170,000 people have donated to this organization in Slovakia. In 2014 Good Angel expanded their activities also to Czech Republic, where 60.000 are paying their monthly contributions in 2016. In addition to that, Kiska donates his monthly presidential salary to people in need.

Presidency.

In the first round of the 2014 Slovak presidential election, Kiska placed second with 24% of the vote, behind Prime Minister Robert Fico (28%). As none of candidates got more than 50% of votes, Kiska and Fico progressed to a presidential runoff vote on 29 March 2014. With the support of right-wing parties and other defeated candidates, Kiska won decisively in the second round, receiving nearly 60% of the vote. He took office on 15 June 2014.  Kiska announced on 15 May 2018 that he will not participate in 2019 presidential election, arguing that his departure might end "the era of political confrontation" his country faced and citing a desire to spend more time with his family. At the time Kiska made the announcement, polls indicated that he was Slovakia's most trusted politician and that he would have likely been the frontrunner in the election had he chosen to present himself as a candidate.

Foreign policy.

Kiska supports Kosovo independence and is in favour of Slovakia diplomatically recognising Kosovo as an independent sovereign state.  Kiska has also come out against Russia over the Ukraine conflict and supports sanctions.

Andrej Kiska (; born 2 February 1963) is a Slovak politician, entrepreneur, writer and philanthropist who was President of Slovakia from 2014 to 2019. He ran as an independent candidate in the 2014 presidential election and was elected as President in the second round of voting. He has written two books about happiness, success and his life.


Adoption.

In October 2013, Norwegian Football Association President Yngve Hallén confirmed that talks had been held to create a third full national-team international tournament for UEFA members in addition to the FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championship.  The concept of the UEFA Nations League would see all 55 of UEFA's member associations' national teams divided into a series of groups based upon a ranking formulated using their recent results, where they would be promoted and relegated to other groups according to their results within the group. The proposed tournament would take place on dates on the FIFA International Match Calendar that were previously allocated for international friendlies and would not affect the FIFA World Cup or UEFA European Championship.  In March 2014, UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino stated that one of the benefits of the proposal would be to help less glamorous national associations arrange games.  Royal Belgian Football Association's general secretary Steven Martens said that lower ranked nations would still benefit financially from the competition, as the television contract with UEFA would be centralised. The UEFA Nations League was unanimously adopted by the 54 UEFA member associations (Kosovo was not a member at this time) at the XXXVIII Ordinary UEFA Congress in Astana on 27 March 2014.

Format.

Original format.

According to the approved format (prior to Kosovo becoming a UEFA member), the now 55 UEFA national teams (including Kosovo) are divided into four divisions (called "Leagues"): 12 teams in League A, 12 teams in League B, 15 teams in League C, and 16 teams in League D. In each league, four groups are formed (three or four teams in each group) and teams play each other both home and away.

Adjustment starting from 2020–21.

After the completion of the first season, UEFA decided to adjust the format of the Nations League starting from the 2020–21 season. The new league structure comprises 16 teams in Leagues A, B and C and seven teams in League D.

Nations League Finals, promotion and relegation.

In the top league, League A, the winners of the four groups go on to play in the Nations League Finals, with two semi finals, one third and fourth place decider, and one final to decide which team becomes the UEFA Nations League champion.  Teams can also be promoted and relegated to a higher or lower league. Starting in 2020–21, each group winner (there are four groups in Leagues A, B, and C, and two groups in League D) except for League A, who will go on to play in the Nations League Finals, is automatically promoted to the next higher league for the next tournament. Each team placing last in its group in the Leagues A and B is automatically relegated to the next lower league; as League C has four groups while League D has only two, the two League C teams that are to be relegated are determined by play-outs beginning in March 2022. Based on the Nations League overall ranking of the fourth-placed teams, the first-ranked team will face the fourth-ranked team, and the second-ranked team will face the third-ranked team. Two ties are played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home (the higher-ranked team will host the second leg). The two teams that score more goals on aggregate over the two legs will remain in League C, while the losing teams will be relegated to League D.

UEFA European Championship link.

The UEFA Nations League is linked with the UEFA European Championship qualifying, providing teams another chance to qualify for the UEFA European Championship.  There will be play-offs for each of Leagues A, B, C and D in March 2020. Each group winner earns a spot in the semi-finals. If the group winner is already one of the 20 qualified teams, rankings will be used to give the play-off spot to another team of that league. If fewer than four teams in the entire league remain unqualified, play-off spots for that league are given to teams of the next lower league. This determines the four remaining qualifying spots for the European Championship (out of 24 total).

FIFA World Cup link.

The Nations League will be partially linked with European qualification for the FIFA World Cup. The qualifying structure will depend on results from the Nations League, although to a lesser degree than is done for the UEFA European Championship qualifying play-offs. The ten group winners after the first round (group stage) will qualify directly for the World Cup. Then, the second round (play-offs) will be contested by the ten group runners-up, along with the best two Nations League group winners, based on the Nations League overall ranking, that finished outside the top two of their qualifying group. The play-offs will be split into three play-off paths, played in two single-match knockout rounds (semi-finals and finals, with the home teams to be drawn), from which an additional three teams will also qualify.

Support and criticism.

UEFA devised the tournament as a means to eliminate international friendlies – an aim that has been shared by many football clubs and supporters with the regular football season being interrupted with non-competitive international matches as part of the FIFA International Match Calendar.  In February 2012, it was agreed between UEFA and the European Club Association (ECA) that the international friendly schedule would be reduced from 12 to 9 matches a year with the August round of international friendlies in the UEFA confederation abolished from 2015. The aspiration to eliminate friendlies in favour of a more competitive tournament has been welcomed by many football commentators.  The format has been criticised as allowing weaker teams to qualify through the Nations League to compete in the European Championship finals, instead of qualifying through the standard qualification process. However, only four places out of 24 are available through these playoffs.

Trophy.

The UEFA Nations League trophy was unveiled during the phase draw in Lausanne, Switzerland. The trophy represents all 55 UEFA National associations and is made of sterling silver. The trophy weighs 7.5 kg and is 71 cm tall.

Anthem.

The official anthem of the UEFA Nations League was recorded with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, singing in Latin. It is a mix of classical and electronic music, and is played when the players are entering the field of play, in television sequences and for ceremonial purposes. The composers are Giorgio Tuinfort and Franck van der Heijden.

Seasons.

Each season of the UEFA Nations League will typically be played from September to November of an even-numbered year (league phase), and June of the following odd-numbered year (Nations League Finals of League A), meaning a UEFA Nations League champion will be crowned every two years. An exception will be made in the 2022–23 season when the league phase will be played in June and September 2022, due to the 2022 FIFA World Cup played in Qatar at the end of the year.

The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body.


Background.

One Israel was formed by Labor leader Ehud Barak in the run-up to the 1999 elections with the aim of making Labor appear more centrist and to reduce its secularist and elitist reputation amongst Mizrahi voters (Gesher was led by prominent Mizrahi politician and former Likud MK David Levy whilst Meimad is a religious party) modelled on Tony Blair's transformation of the British Labour Party into New Labour. The coalition agreement gave Gesher the number three spot on the list (behind Barak and Shimon Peres), two other safe positions and a promise that Levy would get a ministerial position. Meimad were promised one safe spot on the list and a ministerial position for a member who did not make it into the Knesset.  In the run-up to the election, surveys predicted the party would win 33 seats. However, although One Israel did emerge as the largest faction in the Knesset, its 26 seats was the lowest ever by a winning party (Labor's 34 in the 1996 elections whilst running alone had been the previous low). Of the 26 seats, Labor took 22, Gesher three and Meimad one. As per the pre-election agreement, Levy was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Meimad's Michael Melchior was made Minister of Social and Diaspora Affairs.  Barak, who had beaten Binyamin Netanyahu in the election for Prime Minister, had to form an unstable coalition government with six other parties: Shas, Meretz, Yisrael BaAliyah, the Centre Party, the National Religious Party and United Torah Judaism.  Barak's participation in the Camp David Summit with Yasser Arafat in summer 2000 led to Gesher pulling out of the alliance on 7 March 2001. On 7 May the alliance was joined by the single member New Way faction, but on 15 May 2001 it ceased to exist, as the parliamentary group was renamed Labor-Meimad.  After the party's collapse, Barak was investigated following allegations that the One Israel had broken the party funding law by allowing money from abroad to be directed into campaign funds through non-profit groups in order to get around spending limits. State Comptroller Eliezer Goldberg had already fined the party 13 million shekels for breaking fund-raising laws. It later became known as the "Barak Organisation Affair".

One Israel (, "Yisrael Ahat") was an alliance of the Labor Party, Meimad and Gesher created to run for the 1999 Knesset elections.